Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Shas'O 01-10-05, 12:40 AM	Great work Keith, this does bring a lot if fluff to the Inspired and Kalashtar, and it it the first shard with a feat, isn't it? but one question about the feat, a level one Kalashtar Soulknife/level two monk can get Evasion, Deflect arrows, and Flowing blade? Or does he have the ability to chose it instead ot the other feats? That seemed kind of wierd the way it was written.
Blizzard_Bobsan 01-10-05, 02:10 AM	Great work Keith, this does bring a lot if fluff to the Inspired and Kalashtar, and it it the first shard with a feat, isn't it? but one question about the feat, a level one Kalashtar Soulknife/level two monk can get Evasion, Deflect arrows, and Flowing blade? Or does he have the ability to chose it instead ot the other feats? That seemed kind of wierd the way it was written. I am sure that you can choose it instead (as another option), as with the new bardic songs. Otherwise Keith would've just said " You get Flowing Blade at second level", without mentioning level 6. Edit: To make it more clear: In your example, at second monk level, you get Combat Reflexes OR Deflect Arrows OR Flowing Blade - one of the three. And you also get Evasion, which is not a bonus feat, but a class feature.
Wizardman 01-10-05, 02:19 AM	Awesome Dragonshard, Hellcow! I like the flavour given to both quori-related races. It makes sense that aside from the psionic classes, most warriors among the Inspired and Kalashtar would be monks.
Indigo 01-10-05, 02:51 AM	Never mind. ;)
Hellcow 01-10-05, 02:53 AM	but one question about the feat, a level one Kalashtar Soulknife/level two monk can get Evasion, Deflect arrows, and Flowing blade? Or does he have the ability to chose it instead ot the other feats? That seemed kind of wierd the way it was written. Blizzard is correct. Flowing Blade is simply added to the list of bonus feats a Kalashtar monk can choose at 2nd or 6th level. The wording is unclear, but it's the same text used on page 38 of the ECS regarding Flensing Strike (for Mockery monks) and Whirling Steel Strike (for monks of Dol Dorn). So we may be confusing, but at least we're consistant.
The White Sorcerer 01-10-05, 08:00 AM	Curse you, Baker, now I want to make a kalashtar soulknife/monk.
Joni-san 01-10-05, 12:06 PM	Nice :w00t: Lots of delightfull Fluff with a snack-worth of crunch :cloud9:
polt 01-10-05, 01:30 PM	I liked it, and i hope there is a part two. However, DAMN i thought Star Wars when i read the fiction. Any specific colors for the Kalashtar and Inspired (Like blue, green and yellow vs. red :D)
Aaramis 01-10-05, 01:34 PM	Sadly, that's one thing that will forever be implanted in most gamers heads when they think of a mindblade, is the lightsaber. Or, if you're a comic fan, it's hard not to draw comparisons to Psylocke's psychic knife (which, some would argue, was the inspiration for the class to begin with). As a result, I've tried to stay away from that stuff in my campaigns and instead focus on crystalline weapons and armor. But to each his/her own. Great read, though, Keith. Keep 'em comin! And, dare I say, long live the kalashtar ;)
polt 01-10-05, 01:48 PM	Heh, oh yeah, Psylocke |D She's defently a soulknife :D
motorfirebox 01-10-05, 01:52 PM	i've always been tempted to make a monk/soulknife whose mindblade takes the form of a faint glow around his fists. no game effects, of course, but it'll be fun to have him do stuff like block blades with his hands.
Edymnion 01-10-05, 01:53 PM	Yup, my soulknives all manifest their blade from the backs of their hands, Psylock style. Although, I do have one question. The fluff mentioned turning a mind blade into a flail that wrapped around his opponent. From my copy of the XPH at least, there's nothing that would let you manifest your blade as anything other than a shortsword, longsword, or bastard sword. No ability to replicate any other weapon. Unintentional screw up in favor o' flavor, or sneak peak into something from one of the upcoming books, Races of Eberron for example?
motorfirebox 01-10-05, 01:55 PM	neither. remember in the article, where it said you could use the call weaponry power to make it look like you'd changed the shape of your mind blade?
Arcane Guyver 01-10-05, 01:55 PM	Another soulknife: Kuabara from Yu Yu Hakusho. Or maybe some of the characters from Tenchi Muyo!. Until Halo 2 came out, I thought those elite's with swords were like soulknives (but now they're just elites with a katar-style lightsaber). Edit: Somewhere on these boards, Blainetog has a soulknife variant, which includes some new feats, one of which allows you to change the shape of your blade to different things. I read this article with that feat in mind, forgetting it's unofficial.
Aaramis 01-10-05, 01:57 PM	It's a combination of Call Weaponry and the natural ability to manifest mindblades, thereby allowing Soulknives to reshape their mindblade to suit whichever need they have. It's listed at the bottom of that Dragonshard with the listing for the Ojilashta: "Bladeshapers". Very nice touch, actually. I've always thought Call Weaponry was a fun power.
Kid SixXx 01-10-05, 02:17 PM	Curse you, Baker, now I want to make a kalashtar soulknife/monk. The Artificer I DM wept when he saw the Cannith Wand Adept PrC in the Sharn, book. Now it's my Kalashtar's turn after seeing the Flowing Blade feat. Eberron continues to have the star quality crunch and fluff.
motorfirebox 01-10-05, 02:21 PM	It's listed at the bottom of that Dragonshard with the listing for the Ojilashta: "Bladeshapers". note that, mechanically, this is just the Call Weaponry power; you don't get any mindblade bonuses.
Edymnion 01-10-05, 02:24 PM	neither. remember in the article, where it said you could use the call weaponry power to make it look like you'd changed the shape of your mind blade?Ah, I skimmed that. Flavor text to fake changing the mindblade.
motorfirebox 01-10-05, 02:25 PM	indeed.
Golbez57 01-10-05, 04:07 PM	This Dragonshard has me restructuring my working knowledge of Dal Quor-related terminology. Ironically, just last night, I read both the Dreaming Dark description under Organizations and the Inspired entry in the ECS. Keith seems to make clear in this offering that "Quori" is a term that applies to anything directly tied to or originating from Dal Quor, including the Kalashtar. Let me see if I have this right: the Dreaming Dark, Insipred, and kalashtar are all "Quori". The Dreaming Dark are the more primal forces of Dal Quor, including some of the mightiest beings of that plane and their agents on Eberron. The Inspired are their mind-seeded agents, and are the rulers of distant Riedra on the continent of Sarlona. The Inspired might have their own plans on the Material Plane, but in the end are loyal to the Dreaming Dark. Finally, the kalashtar are those Quori who saw the evil of invading and dominating another planar realm (Eberron), and forever left their native realm and bonded with worldly human vessels to create new, unique beings composed of two spirits. Their goal is to impede the machinations of the Inspired (and, indirectly, the Dreaming Dark) on their (relatively) new home world. Poke me with a mindblade if I'm way off base. I'd like to have it all straight before I introduce them as major players in our campaign as I've intended to do from the start.
Tealgorthian 01-10-05, 04:09 PM	Dammit. Now I have to pick between this, a Changling spelltheif and my Druid.
Edymnion 01-10-05, 04:14 PM	Dammit. Now I have to pick between this, a Changling spelltheif and my Druid.I'd cross the spell thief off the list, personally.
Tealgorthian 01-10-05, 04:50 PM	I'd cross the spell thief off the list, personally. Only took five minutes for someone to come and tell me that.
sh0 01-10-05, 05:16 PM	This Dragonshard has me restructuring my working knowledge of Dal Quor-related terminology. Ironically, just last night, I read both the Dreaming Dark description under Organizations and the Inspired entry in the ECS. Keith seems to make clear in this offering that "Quori" is a term that applies to anything directly tied to or originating from Dal Quor, including the Kalashtar. Let me see if I have this right: the Dreaming Dark, Insipred, and kalashtar are all "Quori". The Dreaming Dark are the more primal forces of Dal Quor, including some of the mightiest beings of that plane and their agents on Eberron. The Inspired are their mind-seeded agents, and are the rulers of distant Riedra on the continent of Sarlona. The Inspired might have their own plans on the Material Plane, but in the end are loyal to the Dreaming Dark. Finally, the kalashtar are those Quori who saw the evil of invading and dominating another planar realm (Eberron), and forever left their native realm and bonded with worldly human vessels to create new, unique beings composed of two spirits. Their goal is to impede the machinations of the Inspired (and, indirectly, the Dreaming Dark) on their (relatively) new home world. Poke me with a mindblade if I'm way off base. I'd like to have it all straight before I introduce them as major players in our campaign as I've intended to do from the start. That jives with my general understanding and is very close to how I will handle these groups in my campaign.
Kurotowa 01-10-05, 09:00 PM	Let me see if I have this right: the Dreaming Dark, Insipred, and kalashtar are all "Quori". The Dreaming Dark are the more primal forces of Dal Quor, including some of the mightiest beings of that plane and their agents on Eberron. The Inspired are their mind-seeded agents, and are the rulers of distant Riedra on the continent of Sarlona. The Inspired might have their own plans on the Material Plane, but in the end are loyal to the Dreaming Dark. Finally, the kalashtar are those Quori who saw the evil of invading and dominating another planar realm (Eberron), and forever left their native realm and bonded with worldly human vessels to create new, unique beings composed of two spirits. Their goal is to impede the machinations of the Inspired (and, indirectly, the Dreaming Dark) on their (relatively) new home world. Nearly, IMO. As I see it: There are the Quori rules in Dal Quor. Their direct agents are the Dreaming Dark, a secret network of highly trained Quori inhabitting human bodies who work to advance the plots of the Quori. A seperate branch are the Inspired, Quori inhabitting specially breed vessels who rule Riedra and focus on maintaining the power they've already gathered. Agents of the Dreaming Dark outrank Inspired when on a mission and use mind-seeded puppets in their work (mind-seed being a specific psionic power). The Kalashtar are Quori who broke with the rulers of Dal Quor over philosphocal differences and fled to Eberron to escape punishment. They discovered the ability to inhabit a human host, which the other Quori imitated and altered to create the Inspired.
Hellcow 01-11-05, 01:20 AM	One more pass at the Quori/Inspired/Dreaming Dark/Kalashtar distinction: Dal Quor is another plane (the region of dreams). Outsiders native to this plane are refered to as quori. Thousands of years ago, a persecuted group of quori spirits fled from Dal Quor by sacrficing their physical forms and connection with Dal Quor and merging with a group of willing humans. This was not direct possession; these quori spirits still exist, but they are spread throughout the descendants of the original hosts. These are the kalashtar. So a kalashtar possesses a bond to a quori spirit, but the quori spirit is a very passive force - it shapes the character in subtle ways, but does not directly control his actions or have direct conversations with him. Those quori who had been hunting the ancestors of the kalashtar learned what the kalashtar had done, but had no intention of sacrificing their forms or being passive observers. They created a race of vessels, specially bred to be possessed by quori. When a quori spirit inhabits one of these vessels, it is said to be Inspired. The Inspired are the ruling class of the nation of Riedra. The Dreaming Dark is both the name of the force that rules Dal Quor, and its quori agents. When encountered on Eberron, those agents are typically Inspired, but are rarely directly connected to the rulers of Riedra. THe Dreaming Dark also uses mind seed to place moles, and has developed the ability to possess any willing human target in addition to the Inspired vessels. The nature and history of the conflict between Dreaming Dark and Kalashtar will be explained in detail in Races of Eberron.
Neofish 01-11-05, 03:32 AM	I'd cross the spell thief off the list, personally. In a world so prevailent (sp?) with magic, you think that no class would train just to hunt down and eleminate mages.? C'mon, they could be trained by the Brelish government to hunt down Aundairian war waizards.! It's a great class and has a nice fit with Eberron....
Aaron L 01-11-05, 05:12 AM	And this comes out after my kalashtar psychic warrior has gotten to 4th level and is firmly cemented into becoming a psychic weapon master (sigh) Awesome article anyway! I only wish I'd had it sooner, but now I know a few words to use for his fighting style, and maybe can cobble a new term together for a crystal sword master.
motorfirebox 01-11-05, 11:19 AM	interesting, Hellcow. so, the quori spirits that now inhabit the kalashtar are distributed intelligences? say, way back when the quori spirits first bonded with willing humans, quori Bob bonded with human Jane. Jane had kids, who also had kids, and so on until there are now hundres of thousands of Jane-descendants. each descendant has a piece of Bob in their soul; and when Bob acts, he does it through thousands and thousands of seemingly unrelated actions by Jane-descendants. of course, there's nothing to say that Jane-descendants might not have married into the Mark-descendants (Mark being the human that quori Phil bonded with, way back when). so the original, seperate quori spirits might now be more of a single distributed intelligence, all sort of glommed together within and throughout the million of kalashtar that inhabit Eberron.
Gurv 01-11-05, 12:21 PM	interesting, Hellcow. so, the quori spirits that now inhabit the kalashtar are distributed intelligences? say, way back when the quori spirits first bonded with willing humans, quori Bob bonded with human Jane. Jane had kids, who also had kids, and so on until there are now hundres of thousands of Jane-descendants. each descendant has a piece of Bob in their soul; and when Bob acts, he does it through thousands and thousands of seemingly unrelated actions by Jane-descendants. of course, there's nothing to say that Jane-descendants might not have married into the Mark-descendants (Mark being the human that quori Phil bonded with, way back when). so the original, seperate quori spirits might now be more of a single distributed intelligence, all sort of glommed together within and throughout the million of kalashtar that inhabit Eberron. Close. But wrap your mind around this: The male descendants of a male kalashtar recieve a portion of the quori spirit he possesses. The female descendants of a female kalashtar recieve a portion of the quori spirit she possesses. So when two kalashtar mate, each child recieves quori spirit from only one parent (the same sex one). When a kalashtar mates with a human, the child is either kalashtar (if it is the same sex as the kalashtar parent) or a normal human (if it is the same sex as the human parent). This prevents a single kalashtar from being bonded to more than one quori spirit. Also note that the naming conventions of the kalashtar reflect this. Male kalashtar have a male suffix added to their names; this suffix is shared by his father and all other kalashtar men bonded to that quori. It is the same for the females. Is it me, or is this thread looking kind of censored? Since when is all this spoiler material?
motorfirebox 01-11-05, 12:24 PM	ah, okay. forgot about the way it splits. and, hey, i'm just following Hellcow's example!
Hellcow 01-11-05, 12:53 PM	Is it me, or is this thread looking kind of censored? Since when is all this spoiler material? The kalashtar stuff certainly isn't. But the common folk know nothing about the Inspired or the Dreaming Dark, so I decided to spoiler them.
Zedium 01-11-05, 01:09 PM	Btw, anyone wondered about this? Are kalashtar spirits the same kind of spirits as normal Quori spirits? For instance, can a Kalashtar have an original Tuscora quori spirits. And if they don't, what kind of spirits did they have? And were all Kalashtar spirits good aligned, or were there also some evil ones?
Tealgorthian 01-11-05, 01:20 PM	Are there any sort of naming conventions for the first part of Kalashtar names? Or is it more of whatever flows naturally? Humans have common names, usually Sarah, Joan, Britney, and the ilk for female and Robert, Johnathan, Adam, David for male. Most pulled from religious text. Personally, I named my Kalashtar what sounded pretty with the suffix.
Flame_Drake 01-11-05, 10:23 PM	Congratulations, oh mighty Hellcow, You have offically made kalashtar my favorite race. That one was great Keith, keep 'em coming. Drake
Elliot22 01-11-05, 11:36 PM	Okay. So what is the final Answer on the turning the mindblade into another weapon? Is there actually a way to do it, or is it just fluff?
Neofish 01-11-05, 11:47 PM	Okay. So what is the final Answer on the turning the mindblade into another weapon? Is there actually a way to do it, or is it just fluff? Like it said in the article, they use the call weaponry power, but describe it as the mindblade changing form into the new weapon, it doesn't count as a mindblade in its new form, nice cinimatic detail that doesn't affect the cruch, it is only an a flavorful DM tool....
Hellcow 01-12-05, 01:32 AM	Btw, anyone wondered about this? Are kalashtar spirits the same kind of spirits as normal Quori spirits? For instance, can a Kalashtar have an original Tuscora quori spirits. And if they don't, what kind of spirits did they have? And were all Kalashtar spirits good aligned, or were there also some evil ones? The quori that are bound to the kalashtar are the same types of spirits as the quori of the Inspired, though there is no kalaraq kalashtar. I'm fairly certain this is discussed in Races of Eberron. For reasons that will become obvious, kalashtar quori would be largely good and at worst neutral. However, there's nothing preventing a kalashtar from being evil, despite the influence of his quori spirit (though the clash might result in an unstable or manic personality). Are there any sort of naming conventions for the first part of Kalashtar names? Or is it more of whatever flows naturally? The name section in the ECS gives general suggestions about kalashtar names that apply to both suffix and prefix. But whatever sounds good is what really matters. Okay. So what is the final Answer on the turning the mindblade into another weapon? Is there actually a way to do it, or is it just fluff? As others have surmised, it's a colorful depiction of call weaponry. Note that in the story, she uses the flail as a flail, but doesn't make a psychic strike with it or do anything else implying that it's a mindblade. I think that expansions of the form of the mindblade are a fun idea to explore – but in this case it's a cosmetic addition that simply makes use of the rules as written.
Ramses III 01-12-05, 03:21 AM	As others have surmised, it's a colorful depiction of call weaponry. Note that in the story, she uses the flail as a flail, but doesn't make a psychic strike with it or do anything else implying that it's a mindblade. I think that expansions of the form of the mindblade are a fun idea to explore – but in this case it's a cosmetic addition that simply makes use of the rules as written. I like the idea though, and it makes Soulknife, a sub-optimal class, a lot cooler -- so I might well institute a feat IMC that will allow the called weapon to use all the benefits of the mindblade. I'll look it over first and make sure it isn't too powerful though.
ardisian 01-15-05, 01:22 PM	Reading this article gave me several new feat ideas. How do these sound... New Feats Psionic Training [General] You stack monk levels or soulknife levels with another psionic class for purpose of manifestor level. Benefit: You add ½ your monk or soulknife level to your manifestor level for purposes of power abilities but do not gain any additional powers or power points. Special: You can take this feat twice to allow you to add both ½ monk and soulknife levels to manifestor level. Bladeshaping [Psionic] Your mind blade is much more versatile. Prerequisite: Ability to generate a mind blade, Weapon Focus (mind blade), call weaponry power, manifestor level 3rd, Base Attack +4. Benefit: You may use the Call Weaponry power to alter the shape of your mind blade, as well as its characteristics (damage, special bonuses, range, etc), while keeping the benefits of the mind blade (enhancement bonuses, psychic strike, knife to the soul, etc.). When call weaponry is used the character may spend additional power points up to the characters soulknife level (or max power point expenditure for manifesting) and the reshaped mind blade keeps all mind blade powers/abilities up to that level of soulknife (including attack bonus from Weapon Focus). Special: If the weapon created with this power is a dual weapon then it uses the same rules as if the soulknife had split his mind blade (per Shape Mind Blade ability). Reforged Soul [Psionic] You mind blade is reshaped to become another weapon. Prerequisite: Ability to generate a mind blade, Weapon Focus (chosen weapon), Shape Mind Blade. Benefit: You choose another weapon for your mind blade to be shaped as. Your mind blade can now be used as that weapon or as any of the other forms given by Shape Mind Blade. When the mind blade is manifested it starts with this form and must be shaped into the other forms as per the Shape Mind Blade ability. This weapon gains all benefits of the mind blade including enhancements, special abilities, and weapon focus (and greater weapon focus) bonuses. If the weapon is a dual weapon then use the same rules for enhancements as if the soulknife had split his mind blade (per Shape Mind Blade ability). Special: This feat may be taken multiple times to expand the choices of the soulknife but one of the forms must be chosen as primary. Each time this feat is taken the soulknife requires the appropriate Weapon Focus feat as well. Born Psion [Psionic] You begin with a minor psionic power. Prerequisite: Power Points, 1st level Character. Benefit: You may choose a single power from the following list. You treat your manifestor level at 1st for this power. Thicken Skin, Control Object, Burst, Precognition, Clairvoyant Sense, Psionic Minor Creation, Mindlink, Call to Mind, Control Flames, Empathy, Far Hand, Matter Agitation, Telempathic Projection, Catfall, Chameleon, Conceal Thoughts, Elfsight, or Vigor. Special: If the character later takes a class that allows him to gain manifestor levels then treat the manifestor level for this power as his highest manifestor level.
Golbez57 02-03-05, 03:30 PM	I dug around for this thread to refer to it in another, and somehow missed your feats the first time through. Nice contributions, ardisian; thanks!
greatfrito 02-03-05, 07:22 PM	Okay, oops, I was replying to the first page, and it's well into the second. My bad. It's still awesome though. Go team!