Kalashtar Soulknife questions/Races of Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community

Kalashtar Soulknife questions/Races of Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
RabiesRay
09-18-07, 08:05 PM Hello,

For the first time I have decided to use the Expanded Psionics handbook to make a character. I am playing in a game set in Eberron and I have decided to create a Kalashtar Soulknife, trouble is there are a few things that seem to be missing:

A) there doesn't seem to be a "power points/day" column on the chart for level advancement, (this is necessary otherwise these psions have no base power points- see page 27, table 2-5 in the Expanded Psionics handbook)

B)What is the key ability score of the Soulknife, for determining bonus power points on table 2-1: "ability modifiers and bonus power points"

Now many of the powers are 0 cost, but there are at least two listed in Races of Eberron that do have a cost in Power points ie:Align Mindblade (Races of Eberron, page 125) and Purifying strike ( Races of Eberron, page 125)

Thank you I am hoping it is there and my unfamiliarity with the books are preventing me from finding the information.
Belabras
09-18-07, 08:15 PM Mindblades don't get powerpoints. Kalashtar, however, get one for every class level they have.
Lycanthromancer
09-18-07, 08:24 PM No power points, no powers. It'd be nice if they did get them, as it would make the class much more useful (and much less useless).

If going for a kalashtar, I'd ask your DM if you could take the Wild Talent feat to get a single 1st level power instead of Hidden Talent. That would make your bonus pp much more useful.

Otherwise, I'd go psychic warrior with the call weapon power instead. All you have to do is change the flavor of the power, and voila! A soulknife!
InkBlot
09-18-07, 08:31 PM He is going Kalashtar, and he wants to use the Kalashtar soulknife substitution levels from Races Of Eberron, which already replace Wild Talent.
RabiesRay
09-18-07, 08:35 PM From page 123 Races of Eberron

Quote: "Class features-
All of the following are features of the Kalashtar soulknife's racial subtitution levels.

Align mind Blade (Su) a Kalashtar soulknife can spend 1 power point as a free action to imbue his mindblade with a good alignment for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. This effect lasts for 1 round . When the kalashtar soulknife...This substitution feature replaces the standard soulknife's free wildtalent feat. Since all Kalshtar gain power points for free, the character does not need this feat to materialize his mind blade."

My question is do they gain bonus power points for relative ability scores? And if not do you just have the 1 power point per level/day for being Kalashtar? And if so how could you use this power more than one round once a day?

and

"Purifiying strike (Su) beginning at 3rd level, a Kalashtar soulknife can use the essence of his Quori soul to drive out Malign forces manipulating the minds of others. The soulknife must first make a successful touch attack against a target creature. He then spends 3 power points in order to make a dispel check(using the soulknife level as his caster level) against each mind-effecting spell or ability influencing the target. (though he can't choose to ignore some effects and dispel others.)..."[/QUOTE]

Again how could you afford to use this skill more than one round once a day?
Lycanthromancer
09-18-07, 08:36 PM Wild Talent, Hidden Talent, I always get those two confused.

And if he's REALLY set on going soulknife, then yeah, it's time to bust out the Races of Eberron.

Otherwise, go psywar. Really.
Duelpersonality
09-18-07, 08:37 PM Mindblades don't get powerpoints. Kalashtar, however, get one for every class level they have.

This would seem to be how they get the points.
Crake
09-18-07, 08:42 PM I second the notion of playing a psi warrior and just using call weapon to mimic a soulknife. There is a nice option for psi warriors in the Mind's Eye*, that lets you gain an increasingly potent weapon as you go up in levels. It also gives call weapon an augment that lets you pick any available weapon enhancement provided you have a high enough manifester level and enough power points.

*Check it out Soulbound Weapon here.http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070214a
RabiesRay
09-18-07, 08:42 PM (Thank you everyone for the help by the way.)

So you only have 5 to spend per day for example at fifth level? Why not allow them a base amount for each level like all the rest of the psions? I mean so you can use the abilities of the class? And what about ability score bonuses?

(I really do think the class has a great flavor. Strange enough that it isn't just some cheesy "mind mage" and unique. I really do like the class, it needs some minor tweaking, I am just bummed as my DM goes by offical printed word only.)
InkBlot
09-18-07, 08:45 PM Because your character's power points aren't based on his class. He'd have five power points if he were a Fighter. He'd have five power points if he were a Wizard. He gets those power points because he's a Kalashtar, not because he's a soulknife.
RabiesRay
09-18-07, 08:55 PM I am saying is all the other psions not matter what race get a base Power point pool,(see all psionic class descriptions except Soulknife) as well as exceptional ability score bonuses to power points (Table 2-1 ability modifiers and bonus power points page 18 expanded psionics handbook )

Those two basic sources of Psionic Power points are open to any and all psions except soulknife. If there is a cost to turn on certain powers, then they should have base power points for each level, as well as be allowed to gain bonus points from exceptional ability scores. However they don't as the rules are written. Any suggestions on which ability score to base it on? and which other psion class to base the Base psionic power points progression on?

The way the class is built is why I like it. With the Kalashtar Soulknife they are more akin to Psionic Paladins, I like it. It interests me.

I hope no one thinks I am mad, by the way. I am just confused as to how to fix the existing class to play it the way it is written.
Lycanthromancer
09-18-07, 08:58 PM Soulknives aren't psions. Psion is a psionic class. Soulknives are a psionic class. Psion is not a soulknife.

Soulknives only get power points in order to be a psionic class via the Wild Talent feats.

Anyway, you might try one of the fixes around here. Blaintog has a great one.
ChimericalWolf
09-19-07, 12:17 AM Soulknives don't have PP/Day because they do not manifest powers. With no powers to manifest, there's no reason for them to have PP.

The Kalashtar Racial Substitution does use PP to power it's abilities. The points you use to power those abilities are limited to your Kalashtar Racial Powerpoints (equal to your level) plus the one you get for Soulknife 1 Hidden Talent, plus any other you pick up from other sources.

The Kalashtar Soulknife is very limited in how many PP they have, and they are supposed to be. A level 10 Kalashtar Soulknife should only have about 11 PP to power his abilities. The class is designed that way.
Sagetim
09-20-07, 09:19 PM Hello,

For the first time I have decided to use the Expanded Psionics handbook to make a character. I am playing in a game set in Eberron and I have decided to create a Kalashtar Soulknife, trouble is there are a few things that seem to be missing:

A) there doesn't seem to be a "power points/day" column on the chart for level advancement, (this is necessary otherwise these psions have no base power points- see page 27, table 2-5 in the Expanded Psionics handbook)

B)What is the key ability score of the Soulknife, for determining bonus power points on table 2-1: "ability modifiers and bonus power points"

Now many of the powers are 0 cost, but there are at least two listed in Races of Eberron that do have a cost in Power points ie:Align Mindblade (Races of Eberron, page 125) and Purifying strike ( Races of Eberron, page 125)

Thank you I am hoping it is there and my unfamiliarity with the books are preventing me from finding the information.

In case no one opened their book and looked at the first level class abilities. Soulknives DO get power points. They get the Wild Talent feat for free at first level. Meaning they have 2 power points per day. Ever. They don't get bonus power points per day as far as I know, however a dm might say they do. Never really needed to worry about spending them, because none of their powers cost any pp.

Actually: you don't. Soulknives ARE NOT manifesters. They gain 0 extra power points per day. They get 2 from the wild talent feat. That's it. IF they have racial bonuses, good for them. But the basic class requires no power point expenditures, and the only reason they even need the wild talent feat is because they need to have a power point reserve to be considered psionic (and thus make a mindblade).
RabiesRay
09-20-07, 10:47 PM The entry for Kalashtar Soulknife is a variant of the normal class. This version of Soulknife has two abilities that do have power point costs. Kalashtar Soulknife racial substitution at 1st level replaces wild talent.

A Kalashtar Soulknife is only allowed to have 1 point per level/per day for the Kalashtar soulknife, due to their inherent racial aptitude for psionic powers; and 2 of their class skills have a cost Align soulknife, and purifying strike; then the skills which make them different from the normal Soulknife (as seen in the expanded psionics book) are broken and only usable 1 or 2 rounds per day.

(This is all moot as my DM agrees that the creators intent was to allow them to have power points to use these powers and be effective, so we are just substituting one of the other psion power point progression charts. We also, for balance issues, will probably assign a point cost to more of the powers as well, such as: knife to the soul, blade wind, mind blade enhancement, etc. Very easily you can modify the costs of these skills keeping the character in balance even with a surplus of power points.
Sagetim
09-20-07, 11:44 PM The entry for Kalashtar Soulknife is a variant of the normal class. This version of Soulknife has two abilities that do have power point costs. Kalashtar Soulknife racial substitution at 1st level replaces wild talent.

A Kalashtar Soulknife is only allowed to have 1 point per level/per day for the Kalashtar soulknife, due to their inherent racial aptitude for psionic powers; and 2 of their class skills have a cost Align soulknife, and purifying strike; then the skills which make them different from the normal Soulknife (as seen in the expanded psionics book) are broken and only usable 1 or 2 rounds per day.

(This is all moot as my DM agrees that the creators intent was to allow them to have power points to use these powers and be effective, so we are just substituting one of the other psion power point progression charts. We also, for balance issues, will probably assign a point cost to more of the powers as well, such as: knife to the soul, blade wind, mind blade enhancement, etc. Very easily you can modify the costs of these skills keeping the character in balance even with a surplus of power points.

so instead of allowing a soulknife to be fully effective, your going to gimp them by placing a maximum on powers that are normally things that are really nice to have for free. Why would you do that? oh right, you can also get more pp/day with the talented feat. As well, if you really want more uses of 'aligning your weapon' to good, get 'align weapon' and expend your psionic focus to do it. Then you're not limited in times per day to use it.

If your issue is that you feel you don't have enough power points, then stop complaining and play a psychic warrior. you'll get bonus feats, powers, power points and so forth. The soulknife wasn't made to be like all the other psionic classes, it was made to be it's own unique little class. By giving it a higher point reserve and making it's abilities have a power point cost, your gimping it at best, ruining it at worst.
Nom
09-21-07, 03:04 AM And if not do you just have the 1 power point per level/day for being Kalashtar? And if so how could you use this power more than one round once a day?You could be greater than level 1.
Again how could you afford to use this skill more than one round once a day?Same answer. 1/day at level 3, 1 per 3 levels thereafter. A free dispel magic/psionics Su ability sounds pretty good to me, even if only 1/day per 3 levels.
Sagetim
09-21-07, 03:48 AM You could be greater than level 1.
Same answer. 1/day at level 3, 1 per 3 levels thereafter. A free dispel magic/psionics Su ability sounds pretty good to me, even if only 1/day per 3 levels.

except that it's not free. It's free if it doesnt cut into your resources. power points are a resource. If it were free it would say 'usable 1/day etc etc'. No. It says 'expend power points to do etc etc'. Soulknives don't have many power points, and if they run out, they can't manifest their mindblade or gain a psionic focus. For that they would need at least one point left in reserve. Meaning that at level 3, to use that power, you would be giving up being able to activate your mindblade for the rest of the day. Now, if you had a cognizant crystal (with 3 pp capacity) then you could charge that every night with 2 or 3 points. 3 if you think you won't be mugged at night, 2 to be safe. In any case, it's not free. It's like saying a paladin gets the ability to sacrafice a second level prepared spell to do the same thing. They still have to sac a second level spell. Difference is, a paladin gets more spells, they get spellcasting ablities. Their powers don't rely having a single, first level spell in reserve at all times just to use their abilities.

Also take this into account: if the soulknife gets hit with anything that drains pp's, they could be easily depleted in one attack. I'm rather sure that balances out the ability to use knife to the soul, psychic strike, and other such class abilities just fine.
CrimsonDeath
09-21-07, 04:22 AM except that it's not free. It's free if it doesnt cut into your resources. power points are a resource.

And what else is a Kalashtar Soulknife using his PP for? If he didn't have these abilities, those PP would just be sitting in his brain, doing nothing.
Sagetim
09-21-07, 07:55 PM And what else is a Kalashtar Soulknife using his PP for? If he didn't have these abilities, those PP would just be sitting in his brain, doing nothing.

correction: they would be sitting in his brain allowing him to use his class abilities. If he runs out of PP's (and there are ways to have them drained) his class powers go 'fzerk piff!'
Callix
09-21-07, 08:41 PM correction: they would be sitting in his brain allowing him to use his class abilities. If he runs out of PP's (and there are ways to have them drained) his class powers go 'fzerk piff!'

Power Leech, Psychic Vampire, Mindfeeder weapons... any of these render your Soulknife useless until the next day. Be very, very careful when using these abilities near non-Kalashtar soulknives. Also, this makes using Align Mind Blade at 1st level a somewhat silly idea. Your mindblade is good-aligned, but you ran out of pp, so it ceased to exist. In a good way ;).
Sagetim
09-21-07, 09:17 PM Power Leech, Psychic Vampire, Mindfeeder weapons... any of these render your Soulknife useless until the next day. Be very, very careful when using these abilities near non-Kalashtar soulknives. Also, this makes using Align Mind Blade at 1st level a somewhat silly idea. Your mindblade is good-aligned, but you ran out of pp, so it ceased to exist. In a good way ;).

yeah...it's a pretty gimpy power. besides, what the hell are you fighting at level 1 that requires you to have an aligned weapon to bust the DR of?

And don't forget the Vigo wannabe's. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a359/Sagetim/spectralsavantposter.jpg

They'll drain the PP's before you can say 'bad vigo, bad. No babies for you!'
Dead_Weasel
09-22-07, 02:19 PM (This is all moot as my DM agrees that the creators intent was to allow them to have power points to use these powers and be effective, so we are just substituting one of the other psion power point progression charts. We also, for balance issues, will probably assign a point cost to more of the powers as well, such as: knife to the soul, blade wind, mind blade enhancement, etc. Very easily you can modify the costs of these skills keeping the character in balance even with a surplus of power points.

Why, why, WHY would you make soulknife even worse than it already is? Especially if you want to actually play one! Crake has already linked you to a better option if you like the "I stab you with my mind" flavor, and if you really wanted to you could open up some soulknife class features as feats for the soulbound psywar.

If you are genuinely interested in a pay-to-suck soulknife, that is your decision - but it should be clear already that I feel that it is a bad one.
Sagetim
09-22-07, 03:59 PM Why, why, WHY would you make soulknife even worse than it already is? Especially if you want to actually play one! Crake has already linked you to a better option if you like the "I stab you with my mind" flavor, and if you really wanted to you could open up some soulknife class features as feats for the soulbound psywar.

If you are genuinely interested in a pay-to-suck soulknife, that is your decision - but it should be clear already that I feel that it is a bad one.

*high fives the weasle* yes. Why would you want to pay for class abilities that are some of the things that make the soulknife not suck? Knife to the Soul and Bladewind are very nice, but only if you don't have to pay for them out of a very very limited pool of power points. Even if you DO have a good pool, you wouldn't be able to use them nearly as much as the person who can do it for free.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
RabiesRay 09-18-07, 08:05 PM	Hello, For the first time I have decided to use the Expanded Psionics handbook to make a character. I am playing in a game set in Eberron and I have decided to create a Kalashtar Soulknife, trouble is there are a few things that seem to be missing: A) there doesn't seem to be a "power points/day" column on the chart for level advancement, (this is necessary otherwise these psions have no base power points- see page 27, table 2-5 in the Expanded Psionics handbook) B)What is the key ability score of the Soulknife, for determining bonus power points on table 2-1: "ability modifiers and bonus power points" Now many of the powers are 0 cost, but there are at least two listed in Races of Eberron that do have a cost in Power points ie:Align Mindblade (Races of Eberron, page 125) and Purifying strike ( Races of Eberron, page 125) Thank you I am hoping it is there and my unfamiliarity with the books are preventing me from finding the information.
Belabras 09-18-07, 08:15 PM	Mindblades don't get powerpoints. Kalashtar, however, get one for every class level they have.
Lycanthromancer 09-18-07, 08:24 PM	No power points, no powers. It'd be nice if they did get them, as it would make the class much more useful (and much less useless). If going for a kalashtar, I'd ask your DM if you could take the Wild Talent feat to get a single 1st level power instead of Hidden Talent. That would make your bonus pp much more useful. Otherwise, I'd go psychic warrior with the call weapon power instead. All you have to do is change the flavor of the power, and voila! A soulknife!
InkBlot 09-18-07, 08:31 PM	He is going Kalashtar, and he wants to use the Kalashtar soulknife substitution levels from Races Of Eberron, which already replace Wild Talent.
RabiesRay 09-18-07, 08:35 PM	From page 123 Races of Eberron Quote: "Class features- All of the following are features of the Kalashtar soulknife's racial subtitution levels. Align mind Blade (Su) a Kalashtar soulknife can spend 1 power point as a free action to imbue his mindblade with a good alignment for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. This effect lasts for 1 round . When the kalashtar soulknife...This substitution feature replaces the standard soulknife's free wildtalent feat. Since all Kalshtar gain power points for free, the character does not need this feat to materialize his mind blade." My question is do they gain bonus power points for relative ability scores? And if not do you just have the 1 power point per level/day for being Kalashtar? And if so how could you use this power more than one round once a day? and "Purifiying strike (Su) beginning at 3rd level, a Kalashtar soulknife can use the essence of his Quori soul to drive out Malign forces manipulating the minds of others. The soulknife must first make a successful touch attack against a target creature. He then spends 3 power points in order to make a dispel check(using the soulknife level as his caster level) against each mind-effecting spell or ability influencing the target. (though he can't choose to ignore some effects and dispel others.)..."[/QUOTE] Again how could you afford to use this skill more than one round once a day?
Lycanthromancer 09-18-07, 08:36 PM	Wild Talent, Hidden Talent, I always get those two confused. And if he's REALLY set on going soulknife, then yeah, it's time to bust out the Races of Eberron. Otherwise, go psywar. Really.
Duelpersonality 09-18-07, 08:37 PM	Mindblades don't get powerpoints. Kalashtar, however, get one for every class level they have. This would seem to be how they get the points.
Crake 09-18-07, 08:42 PM	I second the notion of playing a psi warrior and just using call weapon to mimic a soulknife. There is a nice option for psi warriors in the Mind's Eye, that lets you gain an increasingly potent weapon as you go up in levels. It also gives call weapon an augment that lets you pick any available weapon enhancement provided you have a high enough manifester level and enough power points. Check it out Soulbound Weapon here.http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070214a
RabiesRay 09-18-07, 08:42 PM	(Thank you everyone for the help by the way.) So you only have 5 to spend per day for example at fifth level? Why not allow them a base amount for each level like all the rest of the psions? I mean so you can use the abilities of the class? And what about ability score bonuses? (I really do think the class has a great flavor. Strange enough that it isn't just some cheesy "mind mage" and unique. I really do like the class, it needs some minor tweaking, I am just bummed as my DM goes by offical printed word only.)
InkBlot 09-18-07, 08:45 PM	Because your character's power points aren't based on his class. He'd have five power points if he were a Fighter. He'd have five power points if he were a Wizard. He gets those power points because he's a Kalashtar, not because he's a soulknife.
RabiesRay 09-18-07, 08:55 PM	I am saying is all the other psions not matter what race get a base Power point pool,(see all psionic class descriptions except Soulknife) as well as exceptional ability score bonuses to power points (Table 2-1 ability modifiers and bonus power points page 18 expanded psionics handbook ) Those two basic sources of Psionic Power points are open to any and all psions except soulknife. If there is a cost to turn on certain powers, then they should have base power points for each level, as well as be allowed to gain bonus points from exceptional ability scores. However they don't as the rules are written. Any suggestions on which ability score to base it on? and which other psion class to base the Base psionic power points progression on? The way the class is built is why I like it. With the Kalashtar Soulknife they are more akin to Psionic Paladins, I like it. It interests me. I hope no one thinks I am mad, by the way. I am just confused as to how to fix the existing class to play it the way it is written.
Lycanthromancer 09-18-07, 08:58 PM	Soulknives aren't psions. Psion is a psionic class. Soulknives are a psionic class. Psion is not a soulknife. Soulknives only get power points in order to be a psionic class via the Wild Talent feats. Anyway, you might try one of the fixes around here. Blaintog has a great one.
ChimericalWolf 09-19-07, 12:17 AM	Soulknives don't have PP/Day because they do not manifest powers. With no powers to manifest, there's no reason for them to have PP. The Kalashtar Racial Substitution does use PP to power it's abilities. The points you use to power those abilities are limited to your Kalashtar Racial Powerpoints (equal to your level) plus the one you get for Soulknife 1 Hidden Talent, plus any other you pick up from other sources. The Kalashtar Soulknife is very limited in how many PP they have, and they are supposed to be. A level 10 Kalashtar Soulknife should only have about 11 PP to power his abilities. The class is designed that way.
Sagetim 09-20-07, 09:19 PM	Hello, For the first time I have decided to use the Expanded Psionics handbook to make a character. I am playing in a game set in Eberron and I have decided to create a Kalashtar Soulknife, trouble is there are a few things that seem to be missing: A) there doesn't seem to be a "power points/day" column on the chart for level advancement, (this is necessary otherwise these psions have no base power points- see page 27, table 2-5 in the Expanded Psionics handbook) B)What is the key ability score of the Soulknife, for determining bonus power points on table 2-1: "ability modifiers and bonus power points" Now many of the powers are 0 cost, but there are at least two listed in Races of Eberron that do have a cost in Power points ie:Align Mindblade (Races of Eberron, page 125) and Purifying strike ( Races of Eberron, page 125) Thank you I am hoping it is there and my unfamiliarity with the books are preventing me from finding the information. In case no one opened their book and looked at the first level class abilities. Soulknives DO get power points. They get the Wild Talent feat for free at first level. Meaning they have 2 power points per day. Ever. They don't get bonus power points per day as far as I know, however a dm might say they do. Never really needed to worry about spending them, because none of their powers cost any pp. Actually: you don't. Soulknives ARE NOT manifesters. They gain 0 extra power points per day. They get 2 from the wild talent feat. That's it. IF they have racial bonuses, good for them. But the basic class requires no power point expenditures, and the only reason they even need the wild talent feat is because they need to have a power point reserve to be considered psionic (and thus make a mindblade).
RabiesRay 09-20-07, 10:47 PM	The entry for Kalashtar Soulknife is a variant of the normal class. This version of Soulknife has two abilities that do have power point costs. Kalashtar Soulknife racial substitution at 1st level replaces wild talent. A Kalashtar Soulknife is only allowed to have 1 point per level/per day for the Kalashtar soulknife, due to their inherent racial aptitude for psionic powers; and 2 of their class skills have a cost Align soulknife, and purifying strike; then the skills which make them different from the normal Soulknife (as seen in the expanded psionics book) are broken and only usable 1 or 2 rounds per day. (This is all moot as my DM agrees that the creators intent was to allow them to have power points to use these powers and be effective, so we are just substituting one of the other psion power point progression charts. We also, for balance issues, will probably assign a point cost to more of the powers as well, such as: knife to the soul, blade wind, mind blade enhancement, etc. Very easily you can modify the costs of these skills keeping the character in balance even with a surplus of power points.
Sagetim 09-20-07, 11:44 PM	The entry for Kalashtar Soulknife is a variant of the normal class. This version of Soulknife has two abilities that do have power point costs. Kalashtar Soulknife racial substitution at 1st level replaces wild talent. A Kalashtar Soulknife is only allowed to have 1 point per level/per day for the Kalashtar soulknife, due to their inherent racial aptitude for psionic powers; and 2 of their class skills have a cost Align soulknife, and purifying strike; then the skills which make them different from the normal Soulknife (as seen in the expanded psionics book) are broken and only usable 1 or 2 rounds per day. (This is all moot as my DM agrees that the creators intent was to allow them to have power points to use these powers and be effective, so we are just substituting one of the other psion power point progression charts. We also, for balance issues, will probably assign a point cost to more of the powers as well, such as: knife to the soul, blade wind, mind blade enhancement, etc. Very easily you can modify the costs of these skills keeping the character in balance even with a surplus of power points. so instead of allowing a soulknife to be fully effective, your going to gimp them by placing a maximum on powers that are normally things that are really nice to have for free. Why would you do that? oh right, you can also get more pp/day with the talented feat. As well, if you really want more uses of 'aligning your weapon' to good, get 'align weapon' and expend your psionic focus to do it. Then you're not limited in times per day to use it. If your issue is that you feel you don't have enough power points, then stop complaining and play a psychic warrior. you'll get bonus feats, powers, power points and so forth. The soulknife wasn't made to be like all the other psionic classes, it was made to be it's own unique little class. By giving it a higher point reserve and making it's abilities have a power point cost, your gimping it at best, ruining it at worst.
Nom 09-21-07, 03:04 AM	And if not do you just have the 1 power point per level/day for being Kalashtar? And if so how could you use this power more than one round once a day?You could be greater than level 1. Again how could you afford to use this skill more than one round once a day?Same answer. 1/day at level 3, 1 per 3 levels thereafter. A free dispel magic/psionics Su ability sounds pretty good to me, even if only 1/day per 3 levels.
Sagetim 09-21-07, 03:48 AM	You could be greater than level 1. Same answer. 1/day at level 3, 1 per 3 levels thereafter. A free dispel magic/psionics Su ability sounds pretty good to me, even if only 1/day per 3 levels. except that it's not free. It's free if it doesnt cut into your resources. power points are a resource. If it were free it would say 'usable 1/day etc etc'. No. It says 'expend power points to do etc etc'. Soulknives don't have many power points, and if they run out, they can't manifest their mindblade or gain a psionic focus. For that they would need at least one point left in reserve. Meaning that at level 3, to use that power, you would be giving up being able to activate your mindblade for the rest of the day. Now, if you had a cognizant crystal (with 3 pp capacity) then you could charge that every night with 2 or 3 points. 3 if you think you won't be mugged at night, 2 to be safe. In any case, it's not free. It's like saying a paladin gets the ability to sacrafice a second level prepared spell to do the same thing. They still have to sac a second level spell. Difference is, a paladin gets more spells, they get spellcasting ablities. Their powers don't rely having a single, first level spell in reserve at all times just to use their abilities. Also take this into account: if the soulknife gets hit with anything that drains pp's, they could be easily depleted in one attack. I'm rather sure that balances out the ability to use knife to the soul, psychic strike, and other such class abilities just fine.
CrimsonDeath 09-21-07, 04:22 AM	except that it's not free. It's free if it doesnt cut into your resources. power points are a resource. And what else is a Kalashtar Soulknife using his PP for? If he didn't have these abilities, those PP would just be sitting in his brain, doing nothing.
Sagetim 09-21-07, 07:55 PM	And what else is a Kalashtar Soulknife using his PP for? If he didn't have these abilities, those PP would just be sitting in his brain, doing nothing. correction: they would be sitting in his brain allowing him to use his class abilities. If he runs out of PP's (and there are ways to have them drained) his class powers go 'fzerk piff!'
Callix 09-21-07, 08:41 PM	correction: they would be sitting in his brain allowing him to use his class abilities. If he runs out of PP's (and there are ways to have them drained) his class powers go 'fzerk piff!' Power Leech, Psychic Vampire, Mindfeeder weapons... any of these render your Soulknife useless until the next day. Be very, very careful when using these abilities near non-Kalashtar soulknives. Also, this makes using Align Mind Blade at 1st level a somewhat silly idea. Your mindblade is good-aligned, but you ran out of pp, so it ceased to exist. In a good way ;).
Sagetim 09-21-07, 09:17 PM	Power Leech, Psychic Vampire, Mindfeeder weapons... any of these render your Soulknife useless until the next day. Be very, very careful when using these abilities near non-Kalashtar soulknives. Also, this makes using Align Mind Blade at 1st level a somewhat silly idea. Your mindblade is good-aligned, but you ran out of pp, so it ceased to exist. In a good way ;). yeah...it's a pretty gimpy power. besides, what the hell are you fighting at level 1 that requires you to have an aligned weapon to bust the DR of? And don't forget the Vigo wannabe's. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a359/Sagetim/spectralsavantposter.jpg They'll drain the PP's before you can say 'bad vigo, bad. No babies for you!'
Dead_Weasel 09-22-07, 02:19 PM	(This is all moot as my DM agrees that the creators intent was to allow them to have power points to use these powers and be effective, so we are just substituting one of the other psion power point progression charts. We also, for balance issues, will probably assign a point cost to more of the powers as well, such as: knife to the soul, blade wind, mind blade enhancement, etc. Very easily you can modify the costs of these skills keeping the character in balance even with a surplus of power points. Why, why, WHY would you make soulknife even worse than it already is? Especially if you want to actually play one! Crake has already linked you to a better option if you like the "I stab you with my mind" flavor, and if you really wanted to you could open up some soulknife class features as feats for the soulbound psywar. If you are genuinely interested in a pay-to-suck soulknife, that is your decision - but it should be clear already that I feel that it is a bad one.
Sagetim 09-22-07, 03:59 PM	Why, why, WHY would you make soulknife even worse than it already is? Especially if you want to actually play one! Crake has already linked you to a better option if you like the "I stab you with my mind" flavor, and if you really wanted to you could open up some soulknife class features as feats for the soulbound psywar. If you are genuinely interested in a pay-to-suck soulknife, that is your decision - but it should be clear already that I feel that it is a bad one. high fives the weasle yes. Why would you want to pay for class abilities that are some of the things that make the soulknife not suck? Knife to the Soul and Bladewind are very nice, but only if you don't have to pay for them out of a very very limited pool of power points. Even if you DO have a good pool, you wouldn't be able to use them nearly as much as the person who can do it for free.