Expanded Shape Mindblade? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Expanded Shape Mindblade? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Senshu
07-01-07, 10:45 PM Does anyone know of a thread or anything that would give me some good mechanics to take shape mindblade a step further and turn it into ANY bladed weapon?

or is this just not a good idea...

i was just thinking about it, because if its supposed to be the soulknife's ideal weapon, shouldnt there be a bit more variety than shortsword, longsword, bastard sword?

anyway, if this is a commonly asked question then ignore it.
Azzy
07-01-07, 11:11 PM Does anyone know of a thread or anything that would give me some good mechanics to take shape mindblade a step further and turn it into ANY bladed weapon?

or is this just not a good idea...

i was just thinking about it, because if its supposed to be the soulknife's ideal weapon, shouldnt there be a bit more variety than shortsword, longsword, bastard sword?

anyway, if this is a commonly asked question then ignore it.

Sort of. In Complete Waste.... I mean, in Complete Psionics, there are four feats (Dire Flail Mind Blade, Dwarven Urgosh Mind Bade, Orc Double Axe Mind Blade, and Two-Bladed Mind Blade) that allow a soulblade to shape his weapon as a specific weapon (dire flail, dwarven urgosh, orc double axe and two-bladed sword, respectively).

Essentially, each feat allows you to add that particular weapon to the list of weapons that you can shape your mind blade into. You are treated as being proficient with the mind blade version of the weapon even if you aren't normally proficient in the actual weapon.

These feats are generally regarded as poorly designed by the regulars of this forum. Not because they're unbalanced, but because they should have been a single feat (say, Improved Shape Mind Blade) that allowed you to choose any single melee weapon. In fact, that's a house rule in my games (and I'm sure in the games of many of the regulars here).
CrimsonDeath
07-01-07, 11:41 PM I don't know of a specific thread, but I had thought about mind blad variants.

I've noticed some (very general) patterns regarding weapons. In general, you can increase the damage die of a weaopn by increasing its size (light to one-handed to two-handed) or by increasing its complexity (simple to martial to exotic). You can increase its threat range (20 to 19-20 to 18-20) or critical multiplier (x2 to x3 to x4) the same way.

How does this apply to the mind blade? Notice that it starts as a shortsword (light martial 1d6 crit 19-20/x2). It can be shaped into a longsword (one-handed martial 1d8 crit 19-20/x2) or bastard sword (two-handed martial {or one-handed exotic} 1d10 crit 19-20/x2). Over a character's career, there are three other sets of weapons that will do approximately the same amount of damage: handaxe/battle axe/Dwarven waraxe; kukri/scimitar/falchion; and light pick/heavy pick/great pick. (I can come back and show you the mathematical analysis if you want.)

Personally, I don't think it would be unreasonable to allow a soulknife to customize his mind blade a bit, since it's basically an extension of his personality. I wouldn't see a problem letting the player choose to have the weapon do either piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning damage; let him choose either a "hard" critical or a "wide" critical; and let him prioritize criticals or damage die. So, a character might have a piercing weapon with a 1d6/1d8/1d10 damage die with a 20/x3 critical, or he might have a bludgeoning weapon with a 1d4/1d6/1d8 damage die and an 18-20/x2 critical. Whatever combination the character chooses, I'd allow him to choose an exotic weapon proficiency feat to use the largest size one-handed, using the core soulknife's bastard sword mind blade as a precedent for treating the largest size as a hand-and-a-half weapon.

For further customizability, you might allow a Versatile Mind Blade Strike feat to change the damage type (slash/pierce/bludgeon). Another feat, Versatile Mind Blade Critical, to switch between a "wide" or "hard" critical and possibly also to switch between 19-20 and 18-20 or x3 and x4 (with appropriate changes in the damage die) may also be appropriate. Or, you might think such changes are worth a feat at all. You'd probably have to be careful about allowing these in conjuction with the exotic double mind blade feats from CPsi, though. In any event, changing any aspect of the mind blade should require an action, as the Shape Mind Blade class feature, although the character should be able to change as much as he likes about his mind blade when he does (for example, changing it from a pair of light bludgeoning weapons that do 1d4 damage with a 20/x4 critical into a hand-and-a-half piercing weapon that does 1d10 damage with a 19-20/x2 critical, if he has both feats).

If any of that doesn't seem clear, just tell me, and I'll see if I can whip up a table.

Or, just do what Azzy said while I was typing all of that.
angellis_ater
07-02-07, 06:08 AM You could use the Mindblade-as-Feats idea: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=556795

Or just pick up the way Shape Mindblade works there and apply it to the Soulknife.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Senshu 07-01-07, 10:45 PM	Does anyone know of a thread or anything that would give me some good mechanics to take shape mindblade a step further and turn it into ANY bladed weapon? or is this just not a good idea... i was just thinking about it, because if its supposed to be the soulknife's ideal weapon, shouldnt there be a bit more variety than shortsword, longsword, bastard sword? anyway, if this is a commonly asked question then ignore it.
Azzy 07-01-07, 11:11 PM	Does anyone know of a thread or anything that would give me some good mechanics to take shape mindblade a step further and turn it into ANY bladed weapon? or is this just not a good idea... i was just thinking about it, because if its supposed to be the soulknife's ideal weapon, shouldnt there be a bit more variety than shortsword, longsword, bastard sword? anyway, if this is a commonly asked question then ignore it. Sort of. In Complete Waste.... I mean, in Complete Psionics, there are four feats (Dire Flail Mind Blade, Dwarven Urgosh Mind Bade, Orc Double Axe Mind Blade, and Two-Bladed Mind Blade) that allow a soulblade to shape his weapon as a specific weapon (dire flail, dwarven urgosh, orc double axe and two-bladed sword, respectively). Essentially, each feat allows you to add that particular weapon to the list of weapons that you can shape your mind blade into. You are treated as being proficient with the mind blade version of the weapon even if you aren't normally proficient in the actual weapon. These feats are generally regarded as poorly designed by the regulars of this forum. Not because they're unbalanced, but because they should have been a single feat (say, Improved Shape Mind Blade) that allowed you to choose any single melee weapon. In fact, that's a house rule in my games (and I'm sure in the games of many of the regulars here).
CrimsonDeath 07-01-07, 11:41 PM	I don't know of a specific thread, but I had thought about mind blad variants. I've noticed some (very general) patterns regarding weapons. In general, you can increase the damage die of a weaopn by increasing its size (light to one-handed to two-handed) or by increasing its complexity (simple to martial to exotic). You can increase its threat range (20 to 19-20 to 18-20) or critical multiplier (x2 to x3 to x4) the same way. How does this apply to the mind blade? Notice that it starts as a shortsword (light martial 1d6 crit 19-20/x2). It can be shaped into a longsword (one-handed martial 1d8 crit 19-20/x2) or bastard sword (two-handed martial {or one-handed exotic} 1d10 crit 19-20/x2). Over a character's career, there are three other sets of weapons that will do approximately the same amount of damage: handaxe/battle axe/Dwarven waraxe; kukri/scimitar/falchion; and light pick/heavy pick/great pick. (I can come back and show you the mathematical analysis if you want.) Personally, I don't think it would be unreasonable to allow a soulknife to customize his mind blade a bit, since it's basically an extension of his personality. I wouldn't see a problem letting the player choose to have the weapon do either piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning damage; let him choose either a "hard" critical or a "wide" critical; and let him prioritize criticals or damage die. So, a character might have a piercing weapon with a 1d6/1d8/1d10 damage die with a 20/x3 critical, or he might have a bludgeoning weapon with a 1d4/1d6/1d8 damage die and an 18-20/x2 critical. Whatever combination the character chooses, I'd allow him to choose an exotic weapon proficiency feat to use the largest size one-handed, using the core soulknife's bastard sword mind blade as a precedent for treating the largest size as a hand-and-a-half weapon. For further customizability, you might allow a Versatile Mind Blade Strike feat to change the damage type (slash/pierce/bludgeon). Another feat, Versatile Mind Blade Critical, to switch between a "wide" or "hard" critical and possibly also to switch between 19-20 and 18-20 or x3 and x4 (with appropriate changes in the damage die) may also be appropriate. Or, you might think such changes are worth a feat at all. You'd probably have to be careful about allowing these in conjuction with the exotic double mind blade feats from CPsi, though. In any event, changing any aspect of the mind blade should require an action, as the Shape Mind Blade class feature, although the character should be able to change as much as he likes about his mind blade when he does (for example, changing it from a pair of light bludgeoning weapons that do 1d4 damage with a 20/x4 critical into a hand-and-a-half piercing weapon that does 1d10 damage with a 19-20/x2 critical, if he has both feats). If any of that doesn't seem clear, just tell me, and I'll see if I can whip up a table. Or, just do what Azzy said while I was typing all of that.
angellis_ater 07-02-07, 06:08 AM	You could use the Mindblade-as-Feats idea: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=556795 Or just pick up the way Shape Mindblade works there and apply it to the Soulknife.