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Messages - Bauglir

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81
@Snowbluff

I wouldn't say all that. Yes, the basic mechanics are better than those for spellcasting, although the ones that matter are no V/S/M components and (somehow you missed it) no ASF. And those are pretty minor in the grand scheme of caster power. It's in the powers themselves that you see better balance*. The basic mechanics' only contribution to balance is that you have to pay to get the full benefit of your manifester level for your lower level powers, where spellcasters just start switching their available spells over to uncapped things or other buffs that don't depend on caster level at all.

If you restrict yourself to Core vs XPH for comparison, you wind up with XPH being kings of blasting and action economy, and spellcasting winning at everything else. Action economy is pretty powerful, but I'm going to call that a win for spellcasting, on account of gate and shapechange. If you include CPsi and don't add anything to Core, Psionics' average power level actually goes down because of stealth errata and nerfs - Psionics loses its advantage in blasting that the DC scaling issue granted (and is subject to DR that spells get to ignore), and CPsi didn't actually add any new ways to break the game, to my knowledge. Most of its broken material was the kind of broken where it's too weak to actually work.

StP is, of course, stupid, but only because it grants access to a wizard's shit. Calling psionics broken for that is like calling skills broken for UMD.

As for being pointless... I'm not sure how the breakdown between augmented and non-augmented works, but powers that don't have augmentations tend to be those that don't need to scale. I'm not sure how this is a point against psionics, actually. It's clearly a case-by-case thing. Nor do I see why it's a problem to introduce a new system, since that was the point. It differs significantly in execution, and when your options are "not magical" and "magical" for new ways to do stuff, you don't exactly have a lot of options for what you set out to make your goal. Especially when "not magical" was design space occupied by feats at this stage of development (ToB was not even an idea in some designer's head yet). So unless your argument is that Core was perfect and we didn't need splats because we already had rules, I don't understand. CPsi was generally bad with only a very few gems buried under a pile of crap, reprints, and pay-for errata, yes. The online stuff was actually pretty solid, though.

*I don't actually mean that there aren't broken powers. Certainly, psionics is competitive in action economy manipulation, and needed errata to fix several DC scaling issues, and it's surely arguable that magic is only better due to better splat support enabling better cherry-picking. What I mean is that powers are typically designed better. Because this is based on an assessment of a very large amount of unevenly divided material, I know it's bound to be subjective, but you generally see powers having more thought given to their impact in the game. Spells tend to be written in isolation from each other, powers less so. As a result, while you might wind up with a given busted power or spell in either case, the spells have a tendency to crack the game to a greater degree because they combo in sillier ways.

83
General D&D Discussion / Re: House rules to simplify D&D
« on: April 22, 2013, 01:29:11 PM »
I think everyone can agree that the most confusing and complicated part of D&D is the big bag of dice. I propose we simplify this by dropping everything but the d20. For example:
 
Rolling base attributes is now really simple. Just roll a d20 for each one. This has the side effect of vastly improving role-playing, because you can now play a character with a 1 in an attribute.
 
For hitpoints, just do some simple math. Barbarians get d20-8 HP, and wizards get d20-16.
 
Combat is simplified. A dagger does d20/5, while a greataxe does d20*3/5. Magic is also a lot simpler. Normally, casting Disintegrate at 20th level requires you to borrow every d6 at the table until you find 40 of them (which means that, in some groups, you can't cast Disintegrate at all at higher levels!), and then roll them all at once, and painstakingly add them together. In the new system, you just roll your d20 forty times, divide each roll by 10, add them all together, and multiply the total by 3.
 
What do you think?
I think this is a TREMENDOUS idea, really cutting to the heart of the problem (that big dice bag, as you said).  I suggest even further simplification, though -- why go through round after round of combat, with all that rolling? Your hands can get tired, even with cutting down on the number of different shapes your hand has to conform to.  Simply resolve all encounters by having the PCs each roll a d20, and then having the DM roll an equal number of d20s.  If the players win, then they win the encounter; if the DM wins, he can select a PC at random (using another d20 roll) to die.
I think your idea doesn't go too far enough! The players should first make opposed d20 rolls to find out which of them rolls the d20 to determine the combat. This way, the DM only needs to make one roll. Saves net rolls for party sizes greater than 2, and has no effect on total number of rolls for parties of 2 or fewer players.

84
Definitely, yeah. Optimization level definitely alters what optimized means, in a sort of bizarre feedback loop. I, for instance, generally ignore any ability that does nothing on a successful save. It's not worth wasting the action to use it, since enemies typically have very high saving throws in my group.

85
Min/Max 3.x / Re: Fun finds thread V3.0
« on: April 20, 2013, 01:22:21 PM »
Hmmm... How would retraining interact with that? Would you have to change your spells known if you retrain which spell list you use?

86
No, that was a brain fart, I forgot that it wasn't a 3rd level power. Forget that point >__________>

87
There are environments where save-or-x and BFC aren't valued, it's rare for a creature to resist all 5 energy types, and Psions get access to Energy Ball before Sorcerers get Fireball, and that's the bread-and-butter AoE damage spell in low op environments. I mean, all of that was kind of the point. What you call an incomplete understanding of the rules, many groups call their game environment.

88
Surely such a character's shenanigans would then be immediately added to the dirty trick handbooks? It's like being a 10th level Dragon Disciple!

Isn't that the crux of the more idiotic arguments in Fighter vs Wizard? If the wizard can do a cool trick that invalidates the fighter, call shenanigans and say it's a dirty trick. If the fighter dips 10 classes, breaks RaI over his knee, and still falls short, call shenanigans on wizard for being better at singleclassing.
Probably, except the dirty trick handbooks are an actual thing designed to patch exactly this sort of nonsense by removing loopholes and unforeseen interactions. So a fix getting added to it doesn't mysteriously invalidate the original trick's effectiveness by RAW, or otherwise make a claim about whether somebody's pulling somehow-unacceptable shenanigans for the original challenge.

89
Min/Max 3.x / Re: Fun finds thread V3.0
« on: April 18, 2013, 08:04:25 PM »
What if you were a horse? A psionic horse who also knew fission?

EDIT: So that turns out to be pretty boring since only things you divide with fission are added, and everything else is higher-of or not combined at all. If you could finagle a permanent duration and some retraining, though...

You may also need to know compression to ride yourself, what with the size rules for mounts.

90
The Spellshaping Codices / Re: Discussion and Suggestion Thread
« on: April 13, 2013, 03:36:24 AM »
Can I steal the statted out monsters? They seem like great things to advance a little and give to weirder cultures (I mean, ooze-riding is utterly rad.)
Absolutely.

91
The Spellshaping Codices / Re: Discussion and Suggestion Thread
« on: April 11, 2013, 08:37:54 PM »
Bauglir, can I borrow/steal/shamelessly rip off some of the mount stuff for my mecha?

Your domesticated spider is missing the definition of its poison.

You have some bad italics tags in the Vermin entry of One Soul as Two. Also, the abilities in Plant, Undead, and Vermin are the wrong order (the 9th-level ability is listed first instead of the 5th-level ability).

Please do steal as much as you like. If an idea's good enough to rip off, that means I've done a good job. Fixed the italic tags, incorrect numbering of the One Soul as Two abilities, and added the poison definition (Con-based, DC 12, 1d3/1d3 Str). Pretty terrible poison, but I don't want it to be anything but an inconvenience since you get access at level 1.

92
The Spellshaping Codices / Alternate Class Feature - Spelleater
« on: April 11, 2013, 04:55:52 PM »
Spelleater
Most advaitans look outward in their quest to expand the domain of their mind to encompass all reality. It is, after all, the natural path to tread on this journey. But some believe that they must look inward, to understand their own apparent mind, with all its flaws and presumptions, in order to overcome them. It is the mind that produces the illusions that hide enlightenment, and it is in the realm of the mind, not the body, that advancement takes place. This sort of advaitan practices deep meditation and seeks to blend her spirit with the flow of magic itself, instead of with material objects and creatures. Though it is rare for them to call themselves spelleaters, many who witness their powers over raw magical energy insist that this is exactly what they are.

   Class: Advaitan
   Level: 1st
   Cost: You do not gain mounted combat as a bonus feat, a favored mount, or the one soul as two, cavalry master, or surefooted charge class features.

   Benefit: You add Autohypnosis to your list of class skills as an advaitan.  You also add to your list of advaitan bonus feats every feat noted as a Fighter bonus feat, except for those that require a certain number of Fighter levels.
   In addition, you gain the following class features at the listed class levels.

   Spell Resistance (Su): Starting at 1st level, your meditation on the nature of magic grants you a measure of reactive control over its flow. You gain spell resistance equal to 5 + your shaper level. At 7th level, and again at 12th level, the spell resistance you gain from this class feature increases by 5.

   Arcane Dabbler: At 1st level, you gain Arcane Dabbler as a bonus feat, due to your intuitive understanding of magic's flow.

   Meditative Aspect (Su): You gain the meditative aspect ability of an anchorite, except that your martial studies put you on a slower path to a similar type of magical dominion. You do not improve these abilities at 8th and 15th levels, as an anchorite does. Instead, at 9th level, your meditative aspects improve in the same way as an anchorite's ability improves at 8th level. At 20th level, your aspects improve in the same way as an anchorite's improve at 15th level. You never gain the ability to adopt more than one aspect at a time. In all ways other than noted here, this ability functions as though you were an anchorite of a level equal to your advaitan level.

   Perfect Spellstrike (Su): At 5th level, you gain a more nuanced understanding of magic's flow than a typical advaitan. When you shape a major formula, you may treat your melee attacks as though they were the spellshape attack associated with that formula's circle for the purposes of interacting with that formula. You do not provoke an attack of opportunity for shaping a formula in this way. This otherwise functions just as your spellstrike blade ability. For instance, if you shaped the ignite formula, you could strike a foe with a normal melee attack instead of a fireblast; that foe would then need to make a Reflex save to avoid catching fire. The attack would not deal any fire damage of its own, or any extra damage.

   Spell Knowledge (Ex): At 9th level, your study of magical phenomena makes you a more reliable source on the subject than most. Once per day, you can reroll a failed Knowledge (arcana) or Spellcraft check.

   Absorb Magic (Su): At 14th level, you overcome the boundary between another's spellcasting and your own. Whenever a spell fails to overcome your spell resistance, you may use its energy to refresh your own powers. You may either refresh an expended formula of your choice, or heal 1d8 hit points per level of the spell that failed to overcome your spell resistance.

   Perfect Union (Su): At 20th level, you overcome the arbitrary boundaries between manipulations of magical energy. Any spell, whether it ordinarily allows spell resistance or not, is subject to your spell resistance.
   Supernatural abilities are also subject to your spell resistance. If the ability is dependent on some function of class levels, such as a shaper level, Binder level, meldshaper level, and so on, use that level as if it were the ability's caster level. Otherwise, the power of a source of magic is directly tied to its importance to the universe. Use the CR of whatever produced the effect as if it were that effect's caster level. In any case, the effective spell level of such an effect is equal to 1/2 its caster level, rounded down.

93
The Spellshaping Codices / Re: Discussion and Suggestion Thread
« on: April 11, 2013, 04:00:13 PM »
Aforementioned errata has been incorporated. Immunity clause added to Spelltrigger. I'm not going to add one to Spellbeam because if you can somehow find a way to affect yourself with an area effect that doesn't include your space, you deserve whatever's coming to you. I decided against the bonus damage, having though back to some earlier Spellshaping classes and how that ability proved problematic. It might have been iteratives multiplying that damage, but I figure I might as well shy away from it unless it really seems like they're falling behind. Constructs are supposed to be the straightforward ones, anyway. Also, advaitans need to qualify for their bonus feats now.

Now working on the Spelleater.

EDIT: And it's up.

94
Min/Max 3.x / Re: Fun finds thread V3.0
« on: April 11, 2013, 03:08:39 PM »
Provided it has hit dice. They may have the proper type, but most of the rules don't work if they aren't also made creatures. Remember, no hit dice != 0 hit dice. Just like no Con score != 0 Con.

However, you can cast spells like Entangle or anything else that works on plant objects to some pretty hilarious effect.

95
Min/Max 3.x / Re: Fun finds thread V3.0
« on: April 09, 2013, 11:04:42 PM »
Pity you don't get to choose whether it gets reflected, but that just means you don't have Telepath sidekicks.

96
Min/Max 3.x / Re: Fun finds thread V3.0
« on: April 09, 2013, 01:45:20 PM »
If you don't like shuriken, strap your real ammunition to shuriken. Profit?

97
The Spellshaping Codices / Re: Discussion and Suggestion Thread
« on: April 09, 2013, 12:50:28 AM »
That may be true, so I'm going to write out a bunch of background that I hope explains what I was trying to do. In writing the class, I was aiming for a niche that involves a lot of things - spellshaping, melee combat, and mounted combat. What I tried to do was hybridize all of those. In order to use your spellshaping to its greatest effect, you need to be in melee, and you need to be mounted. Your spellshaping makes use of your mount directly, and your class features are primarily geared toward streamlining mounted play (eliminating fiddly, little rolls) and ensuring a durable mount. In my experience, the biggest problem with most mounted combat classes is that you either have a mount that's irrelevant in combat, or you have one that's as good as another character in the party. By making it a fixture for your own abilities and making it difficult to destroy, I'd hoped to create a mount that would remain meaningful without feeling like having a new party member as a class feature.

The class began as an attempt at a "partial spellshaper". I tried a lot of different angles (you can see the original draft as the Magitek Knight), but I just couldn't get it to work in a balanced way. The second tier One Soul as Two abilities were always intended to be the core of the class, but after a lot of back-and-forths with DonQuixote, it became clear that spellshaping as a system just isn't designed for a stunted progression. So, I decided that I had to move them to a later point and restrict the power of the formula you shape through them in some other way, which I decided would be by using a metashaping degree. You've correctly determined that Quicken was relevant here. I priced it that way because it's a very similar effect - getting a major formula without using your standard action. I have only just now, however, realized that the action requirements to trigger it are so steep as to merit a discount. I hadn't quite realized that you need to attack and use a swift action to get it to work, so you don't actually have the option of dumping out multiple formulae in a round. Likely, as a first try, I'll decrease the cost to degree 2 and swap it and the first tier abilities. I'll need to think about it.

Anyway, all that said, I think the class actually has more mounted combat abilities than most mounted combat classes in 3.5. I don't know about Pathfinder, but everyone else pretty much gets a mount, and that's it. This class gets a mount at level 1 (pretty much unheard of, since a horse is already better than a level 1 character, which mandated all the new creatures), bonus feats that work in conjunction with mounted combat, a way to use your mount's actions to special effect, and three class features specifically dedicated to making your mount work better for you (Improved Mounted Combat, Cavalry Master, and Surefooted Charge). Aside from One Soul as Two, though, they're all pretty generic, I admit.

However, I do totally need to add an immunity clause to Spelltrigger, and add the bonus damage I'd meant to put in there (the ability was always a bit bland). You'd be adding your Intelligence modifier to damage with an attack shaped in that way, which is a nice edge but probably not enough to put it over the top compared to the control or combo options the other mounts allow. I also need to specify that Spellcurse deals its damage after the action is taken, so that it doesn't do anything like interrupt spellcasting, which would make it far and away the most powerful.

It'll be a bit before I can actually make these changes to the class, and when I do, I'll probably add the mount-free ACF that borrows heavily from the Anchorite. But until then, you can consider the following to be errata:

You and your mount are immune to the negative effects of a formula shaped with the Spelltrigger ability.
Whenever your mount shapes a formula on your behalf through your Spelltrigger or Spellbeam abilities, add your Intelligence modifier to the damage dealt by that formula, if any.
Each 2nd tier One Soul as Two ability requires that the level of the formula you shape, plus the degree of any metashaping feats you apply to that formula, plus 2, be equal to or less than 1/2 your shaper level (rounded up).

Thank you for the post! It's pretty helpful.

98
Gaming Advice / Re: Tragedy of Pride (idea needed)
« on: April 08, 2013, 01:23:10 PM »
Possibly he takes credit because, on some level, he thinks it will demonstrate his competence (something he feels he needs to do ever since the whole disowning thing). That probably works best as an addition to some other motivation, though, and probably not something he's explicitly aware of.

99
Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Low-Magic - Gateway Feats
« on: April 02, 2013, 06:09:28 PM »
Low-Magic settings often don't convey the intention of that setting choice, because players can play magic-using classes just as well as always. In fact, such a setting typically makes casters even more powerful by robbing everyone else of the magic items they need to keep up. What I'm attempting to do here is create a whitelist of base classes that players can enter by default, all of which are nonmagical. Then, they may take a feat to gain access to additional classes, which have magical powers as parts of their defining features. Full casters are forbidden entirely. While the wealth issue needs to be dealt with separately, through a different thread, instituting these gateway feats provides an incentive not to enter the classes unless they're critical to a character concept. Assigning meaningful benefits to these feats, on the other hand, prevents them from being entirely punitive.

I've divided the classes in question into 3 different "traditions" of spellcasting, based on the fluff associated with the source of magical power. Hopefully, nobody will sue me for the feat names.

The class whitelist is: Barbarian, Bard, Fighter*, Rogue, Knight, Marshal, Scout, Swashbuckler, Crusader, Warblade, Warlord.

Esper Heritage
Your supernatural ancestry has granted you a connection to magical energies that few mortals can hope to grasp.
Benefit: Once per encounter, you may exert your command over magical power, reinforcing your spells. If you do, you can choose to reroll a failed caster level check or force another creature to reroll a caster level check whose DC is determined by your own caster level. You make this choice once you know the result of the check. The results of the second roll stand, regardless of which is better. You do not need line of effect or line of sight to the other creature if you choose that option, but you do need some way of knowing that the check is being made.
Special: A character with this feat has additional choices for his or her class levels. A character with this feat has access to the following classes: Bard**, Duskblade, Factotum, Hexblade, Paladin*, Ranger*, and Spellthief. A player can choose from these classes at 1st level, as long as this feat is also chosen at 1st level.

Lore of the Magi
Your ancestors mastered the power of magic with the help of fallen magical beings, and their teachings have been passed down to you over the generations.
Benefit: You know secret traditions of healing and support that allow you to blend additional healing power into your abilities. Once per encounter, when you use a spell-like or supernatural ability or a psionic power that targets a single creature (including one that targets you), you may choose to end one of the following conditions affecting the target: blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, exhausted, fatigued, nauseated, sickened, or stunned. You can't end a condition with an instantaneous or permanent duration, such as blindness a creature was born with.
Special: A character with this feat has additional choices for his or her class levels: Divine Mind, Incarnate, Lurk, Monk***, Psychic Rogue, Psychic Warrior, Samurai, Soulborn, Soulknife, and Totemist. A player can choose from these classes at 1st level, as long as this feat is also chosen at 1st level.

Magitek Infusion
You have been gifted with the power of magic through an experimental procedure that imbued you with the life essence of a supernatural being.
Benefit: The magical power that runs through your blood is now a part of you, tied permanently to your own spirit. Once per encounter, when you use a spell-like ability or supernatural ability, you may heal a number of hit points equal to your character level as a free action, drawing on this magical energy to restore your body.
Special: A character with this feat has additional choices for his or her class levels: Advaitan, Anchorite, Dragonfire Adept, Dragon Shaman, Gambler, Ninja, Spellshape Champion, Spellshot Marksman, Swordsage, and Warlock. A player can choose from these classes at 1st level, as long as this feat is also chosen at 1st level.

*Use only the Pathfinder rules for the base class itself. 3.5 feats, spells, and so on, apply wherever possible. Options such as archetypes that are presented in Pathfinder are not allowed, but 3.5 ACFs and similar rules are. Rangers do not need to choose subtypes for their favored enemies.
**Use only one particular type of Bard class for a given character.
***Use only the base class. Other options presented in this post are not available, but standard 3.5 ACFs and similar rules are.

100
Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / [3.5] Soulknife Revision
« on: April 02, 2013, 05:42:49 PM »
Reposting from the old boards, because I want to use it in a campaign and I don't want it to go up in a puff of smoke if the old boards do.

The Soulknife

A soulknife is... well, go read the Expanded Psionics Handbook. They got the fluff right, if I recall, at any rate. You're a person who can make a sword out of your mind and beat the everliving crap out of your foes with nothing more than your willpower made manifest. That's about it.

Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d8
Class Skills: The soulknife’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4+Int Modifier)x4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4+Int Modifier

   BAB  Fort    Ref    Will  Abilities
1   +1    +0     +2     +2    Mind blade, Mind blade prowess
2   +2    +0     +3     +3    Hidden talent, Evasion
3   +3    +1     +3     +3    Psychic strike +1d8
4   +4    +1     +4     +4    Bonus feat
5   +5    +1     +4     +4    Free draw, Mental cloak
6   +6    +2     +5     +5    Mind blade modification
7   +7    +2     +5     +5    Psychic strike +2d8
8   +8    +2     +6     +6    Bonus feat
9   +9    +3     +6     +6    Bladewind
10  +10   +3     +7     +7    Improved Evasion
11  +11   +3     +7     +7    Psychic strike +3d8
12  +12   +4     +8     +8    Bonus Feat
13  +13   +4     +8     +8    Knife to the Soul
14  +14   +4     +9     +9    Mental blind
15  +15   +5     +9     +9    Psychic strike +4d8
16  +16   +5     +10    +10   Bonus feat
17  +17   +5     +10    +10   Telekinetic dampening
18  +18   +6     +11    +11   Mental suppression
19  +19   +6     +11    +11   Psychic strike +5d8
20  +20   +6     +12    +12   Bonus feat, Unyielding will


Class Features
All the following are class features of the soulknife.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Soulknives are proficient with all simple weapons, martial weapons, and with light and medium armor and shields (except tower shields).
Mind Blade (Su): Each soulknife has the ability to coalesce a weapon from the substance of his mind alone. As a move action, a soulknife can create his mind blade. At 1st level, he chooses a single weapon with which he is proficient to be the form his mind blade takes. His mind blade is identical to that weapon in all ways, except that it is visually different, weightless, and has other properties described in this entry. At each odd level thereafter, he can choose to change his mind blade to a different weapon with which he is proficient if he so desires, but otherwise his mind blade always manifests as the same weapon. When a soulknife chooses which weapon to use, he also chooses its size, taking any appropriate penalties for improperly sized weapons if applicable. The wielder of a mind blade gains the usual benefits to his attack roll and damage roll from a high Strength bonus.
The blade can be broken (it has hardness 10 and 10 hit points); however, a soulknife can simply create another with his next move action. The moment he relinquishes his grip on his blade, it dissipates unless he intends to throw it, in which case the weapon lasts just long enough before discorporating harmlessly (regardless of the result of the attack roll) for the attack to be made before reappearing the soulknife’s hand, allowing him to make as many attacks as his base attack bonus would entitle him to with a thrown mind blade. A thrown mind blade has a range increment equal to that of the normal weapon plus 5 feet, is never considered an improvised thrown weapon, and a soulknife can make use of his Psychic Strike or Knife to the Soul abilities in conjunction with a throw. A mind blade is considered a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
A soulknife can use feats such as Power Attack or Combat Expertise in conjunction with the mind blade just as if it were a normal weapon. He can also choose mind blade for feats requiring a specific weapon choice, such as Weapon Specialization, in which case these feats apply to his mind blade no matter what form it takes. Powers or spells that target or otherwise apply to weapons can be used on a mind blade.
At 2nd level, a soulknife becomes better able to focus his mental energies, and his mind blade is treated as a masterwork weapon, granting the normal +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls. To upgrade his mind blade further, a soulknife must make use of normal item crafting rules, treating his mind blade as a normal manufactured weapon of its type. While a crafter is improving the weapon, the soulknife must be present for the entire time and have manifested his mind blade.
At 7th level, a soulknife can designate his mind blade as a single type of special material for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction and regeneration. He can change this choice with 8 hours of meditation.
At 14th level, a soulknife chooses a single alignment that does not oppose his own on either axis, and his mind blade is considered a weapon of that type for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction and regeneration. This choice may never be changed.
Even in places where psionic effects do not normally function (such as within a null psionics field), a soulknife can attempt to sustain his mind blade by making a DC 20 Will save. On a successful save, the soulknife maintains his mind blade for a number of rounds equal to his class level before he needs to check again. On an unsuccessful attempt, the mind blade vanishes. As a move action on his turn, the soulknife can attempt a new Will save to rematerialize his mind blade while he remains within the psionics negating effect.
Mind Blade Prowess: A soulknife wields his very mind as a weapon. Understandably, this gives him unparalleled control over his mind blade, allowing him to duplicate abilities otherwise only possible through decades of training. A soulknife qualifies for feats that have a minimum number of Fighter levels as though he were a Fighter of his class level –4, with a minimum of 1. If a feat requires a specific weapon choice, he must choose his mind blade. If a feat only works with certain types of weapons or damage, it now works only with his mind blade and only so long as his mind blade is treated as that weapon type or deals that damage type. Although a 1st level soulknife lacks power points, he is still a psionic creature and can qualify for [Psionic] feats, and can maintain a psionic focus.
Hidden Talent:  A 2nd level soulknife gains a single 1st level power known from the Psychic Warrior list. He manifests this power as though he had a manifester level equal to his class level, and he gains 2 power points per class level (including 1st level). For the purposes of determining saving throw DCs and other aspects of the power, the soulknife designates Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as the ability score to be used. This choice can never be changed.
Evasion (Ex): Whenever subjected to an effect that allows a Reflex save for half damage, a soulknife of 2nd level or higher takes no damage on a successful save so long as he is wearing medium, light, or no armor. See the Rogue class feature.
Psychic Strike (Su): As a swift action, a soulknife of 3rd level or higher can imbue his mind blade with powerful destructive energy. This effect deals an extra 1d8 points of damage to the next target he successfully hits with his mind blade. Mindless creatures are immune to this extra damage, but even other creatures immune to mind-affecting effects are vulnerable to this lethal psychic power.  A mind blade deals this extra damage only once when this ability is called upon, but a soulknife can imbue his mind blade with psychic energy again by taking another swift action.
Once a soulknife has prepared his blade for a psychic strike, it holds the extra energy until it is used. Even if the soulknife drops the mind blade (or it otherwise dissipates, such as when it is thrown and misses), it is still imbued with psychic energy when the soulknife next materializes it.
At every four levels beyond 3rd (7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th), the extra damage from a soulknife’s psychic strike increases by 1d8 points of damage.
Bonus Feat: At 4th level and every 4th level thereafter, a soulknife gains a bonus feat. He can choose any [Psionic] or [Fighter] feat for which he qualifies.
Free Draw (Ex): At 5th level, a soulknife becomes able to materialize his mind blade as a free action instead of a move action. He can make only one attempt to materialize the mind blade per round, however.
Mental Cloak (Su): At 5th level, a soulknife learns to mislead the senses of others. He can hide even without cover or concealment in any terrain, but only from creatures that are not mindless. Creatures that are mindless follow the normal rules for spotting a character attempting to hide (that is, they automatically succeed unless the character has cover or concealment). As normal, he must not be being observed at the time (but see Mental Blind below).
Mind Blade Modification (Su): At 6th level, a soulknife gains the ability to influence the enhancement of his mind blade. By spending 8 hours in meditation, he can remove any number of enhancement bonuses or effective enhancement bonuses on his mind blade and replace them with special abilities with an equal value in effective enhancement bonuses to the total of those removed. He cannot affect weapon special abilities that do not have an effective enhancement bonus value, nor can he affect bonuses granted by spell effects. He can apply any of the special abilities from the following list, using his own class level for the manifester level of the ability if necessary. It may be appropriate to allow a soulknife to permanently lose a quality from this list to replace it with one from another source of the same effective enhancement bonus.
The weapon ability or abilities remain the same every time the soulknife materializes his mind blade for the next 24 hours after his meditation is completed, at which point they revert to their normal values.

Weapon Special Ability   Enhancement Bonus Value
Defending                      +1
Keen                           +1
Lucky                          +1
Mighty cleaving                +1
Psychokinetic                  +1
Sundering                      +1
Vicious                        +1
Collision                      +2
Mindcrusher                    +2
Psychokinetic burst            +2
Suppression                    +2
Wounding                       +2
Bodyfeeder                     +3
Mindfeeder                     +3
Soulbreaker                    +3


Bladewind (Su): At 9th level, a soulknife gains the ability to momentarily fragment his mind blade into numerous identical blades, generating a burst of whirling shards.
As a standard action, the soulknife can generate a cloud of mind blade fragments in either a line 5 feet long per 2 class levels or in a 5 ft per 4 class levels radius. Both effects are bursts with their point of origin being the soulknife, although he is of course immune to the effects of his own Bladewind. Creatures caught in the area take damage as though struck by the soulknife’s mind blade, including bonus damage from a high Strength score and any other damage modifiers that might apply to the soulknife's attack, with a Reflex save to halve the damage. A soulknife can channel his Psychic Strike damage through this attack, and it affects all creatures struck by it, albeit at reduced power (one die of damage less than the mind blade was originally imbued with).
The mind blade immediately reverts to its previous form after the bladewind attack.
Improved Evasion (Ex): Beginning at 10th level, whenever a soulknife is subjected to an effect that allows a Reflex save for half damage, he still takes no damage on a successful save, but even a failed saving throw results in half damage (as though he had succeeded on his save and did not have Evasion). See the Rogue class feature, except a soulknife must be wearing medium, light, or no armor to benefit from this ability (rather than just light or no armor).
Knife to the Soul (Su): Beginning at 13th level, while a soulknife has infused his mind blade with the energy for a psychic strike, he can take a move action to substitute Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma damage (his choice) for extra dice of damage. For each die of extra damage he gives up, he deals 1 point of damage to the ability score he chooses. A soulknife can combine extra dice of damage and ability damage in any combination. Mindless creatures are immune to this ability damage.
The soulknife decides which ability score his psychic strike damages and the division of ability damage and extra dice of damage when he takes the move action, and the effect remains until the next strike made with the mind blade, just as Psychic Strike.
Mental Blind (Su): At 14th level, a soulknife’s ability to cloud the senses of others allows him to hide even while being observed, but only from creatures that are not mindless. Because of his Mental Cloak ability, he can hide without cover or concealment, even while being observed.
Telekinetic Dampening (Su): At 17th level, a soulknife can exercise his mind’s power to still any clothing he wears and even the air around him. He ignores any armor check penalties imposed by armor with which he is proficient, and can move at full speed without taking penalties to Hide or Move Silently checks.
Mental Suppression (Su): At 18th level, a soulknife can conceal his mind as well as his body. He gains the benefit of a continuous psionic mind blank effect, as the power of the same name. This ability also renders him invisible to such supernatural, spell-like, or psi-like senses as the Lifesense special ability of some undead, but not Extraordinary means of special perception, such as some forms of blindsight or scent. It also protects against the Mindsight feat and senses granted by spells or powers.
Unyielding Will (Ex): A 20th level soulknife’s mind blade is immune to sundering attempts and cannot be suppressed or broken by any means, even a null psionics field.

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