Post/Author/DateTime	Post
kyeudo 09-05-07, 10:50 PM	THE SOULKNIFE "A soulknife's mind blade is the ultimate expression of his inner self and of his killing intent, and so shapes itself to the form of combat to which the soulknife himself is most suited. My master was a powerful dwarven soulknife. His mind blade took the form of a massive, stony greathammer, a weapon of brutal, crushing power, with which he brought down giants in a single swing. My own mind blade takes the form of a quicksilver rapier, lithe and mercurial, a graceful weapon suited to swift, piercing strikes. Now, my student, we must find out what form your own mind blade shall take." -Shara Galbanae, Halfling Soulknife A soulknife is one who has both the innate psionic aptitude and the martial training to literaly turn his mind into his weapon. Unlike a psychic warrior, who uses the power of his mind to enhance his ability to fight, a soulknife forges his mental power into a weapon with which to strike down his enemies. Each soulknife's personal weapon, referred to as a mind blade, is unique, differing in form and apearance according to its wielder's mental strength and personality, and that apearance can shift subtly with the wielder's mood. A mind blade may look like an ordinary weapon, or it can apear to be an impossible shape or to be made from extraordinary material, or both. For example, one soulknife's mind blade could be a longsword that apears to be a bar of black metal with no edge, while another soulknife's mind blade could apear to be a longbow composed of cloudstuff. The apearance of a mind blade is up to the soulknife's player and, however it apears, has no effect on the weapon's game statistics. Alignment: Any. Hit Die: d10. Class Skills The soulknife's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Balance (Dex) Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), 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. Table: The Soulknife Base Attack Fort Ref Will Level Bonus Save Save Save Special 1st +1 +0 +0 +2 Mind blade, Psionic Aptitude, Mind Blade Mastery 2nd +2 +0 +0 +3 +1 mind blade, Swift Draw 3rd +3 +1 +1 +3 Combat Style 4th +4 +1 +1 +4 Mind blade enhancement +1 5th +5 +1 +1 +4 Shaping Mastery 6th +6/+1 +2 +2 +5 +2 mind blade, Bonus Feat 7th +7/+2 +2 +2 +5 Improved Combat Style 8th +8/+3 +2 +2 +6 Mind blade enhancement +2 9th +9/+4 +3 +3 +6 Combat Focus 10th +10/+5 +3 +3 +7 +3 mind blade 11th +11/+6/+1 +3 +3 +7 Greater Combat Style 12th +12/+7/+2 +4 +4 +8 Mind blade enhancement +3 13th +13/+8/+3 +4 +4 +8 Bonus Feat 14th +14/+9/+4 +4 +4 +9 +4 mind blade 15th +15/+10/+5 +5 +5 +9 Mental Surge 16th +16/+11/+6/+1 +5 +5 +10 Mind blade enhancement +4 17th +17/+12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10 Combat Style Mastery 18th +18/+13/+8/+3 +6 +6 +11 +5 mind blade 19th +19/+14/+9/+4 +6 +6 +11 Bonus Feat 20th +20/+15/+10/+5 +6 +6 +12 Mind blade enhancement +5, Master's Focus Class Features All the following are class features of the soulknife. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Soulknives are proficient with all simple weapons, with their own mind blades (regardless of its form), with weapons of the same form as their mind blades, with light and medium armor, and shields (except tower shields). Mind Blade (Su): A soulknife can create a weapon composed of psychic energy distilled from his own mind. At 1st level a soulknife selects the form that this weapon will take. A soulknife can choose the form of any weapon, simple, martial, or exotic, sized appropriately for the wielder or sized for a wielder one size category larger or smaller than the wielder, as the soulknife wishes, so a Medium soulknife can choose a Small, Medium, or Large weapon, but once a soulknife chooses a form, the choice is permanent. Regardless of form, such a weapon is refered to as a mindblade. A soulknife may choose a projectile weapon as the form of his mind blade, such as a longbow, but he must supply the projectiles himself; he cannot create projectiles for the mind blade in the same manner as the mind blade itself. A soulknife is always fully proficient in the use of his mind blade, however, a soulknife gains no special ability to wield inappropriately sized weapons without penalty. For example, a soulknife with a bastard sword mind blade can wield his mind blade one handed at no penalty, even though a bastard sword is normaly an exotic weapon, but if his mind blade were large-sized he would take the standard -2 penalty for wielding an oversized weapon and would have to wield his mind blade with two hands. A mind blade is treated as a normal weapon of its type in all ways (including damage, reach, and range increment) except as noted below. A soulnife can manifest his mind blade as a move action. If the soulknife relinquishes his grip on his mind blade, it dissipates (unless he intends to throw it, in which case it dissapates just after the attack).The blade can be broken (its has hardness 10 and 10 hit points); however, a soulknife can simply create another on his next move action. Dispite its aparant solidity and mass, a mind blade has no weight. A mind blade is considered a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. 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 once each round he remains in such a place by making a Will save (DC 10 + the level of the spell + the caster's key ability modifier for null psionics effects generated by powers or DC 20 for naturaly occuring null psionics areas). On a successful save, the soulknife can manifest his mind blade normaly for a number of rounds equal to his class level before he needs to check again. On an unsuccessful attempt, the mind blade vanishes. 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. Powers or spells that upgrade weapons can be used on a mind blade. A soulknife's mind blade improves as the character gains higher levels. At 2th level and every four levels thereafter, the mind blade gains a cumulative +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls (+2 at 6th level, +3 at 10th level, +4 at 14th level, and +5 at 18th level). This enhancement bonus improves the hardness and hit points just as a normal magic weapon. If a soulknife has chosen a double weapon for his mindblade, the enhancement bonus only applies to the primary head of the mind blade, so a 2nd level soulknife with a two bladed sword mind blade would have a +1 head and a normal head on his mind blade. A soulknife's mind blade can be suppressed just like a normal magic item, but it can not be disjoined or permanently dispelled. A suppressed mind blade continues to function as a weapon, but loses the benefit of the mind blade's enhancement bonus and any special abilities gained through the soulknife's Mind Blade Enhancement class feature (see below), if any, for as duration of the suppression. A mind blade's manifester level for all purposes is equal to the owner's soulknife level. Psionic Aptitude: A soulknife has a power point reserve equal to one half his soulknife level rounded down (to a minimum of 1 power point). (This class feature provides the character with the psionic power he needs to materialize his mind blade, if he has no power points otherwise.) Mind Blade Mastery (Ex): A soulknife's instinctive knowledge of his mind blade grants him great skill in its use, enabling a soulknife to qualify for feats that he normaly wouldn't qualify for. A soulknife is treated as a fighter of his soulknife level for the purpose of determining if the soulknife could take a feat that applies to his mind blade. If you have actual fighter levels, they stack with your effective fighter levels to determine if you could take a feat pertaining to your mind blade. For example, a soulknife 2/fighter 2 could take Weapon Specialization (Mind Blade), but could not take Weapon Specialization (Longsword). Swift Draw (Su): At 2nd level, a soulknife becomes able to materialize his mind blade as a free action instead of a move action. However, if he is in a place where psionic effects do not normally function (such as within a null psionics field) he can still make only one attempt to maintain his mind blade each round. This class feature counts as Quick Draw for the purposes of meeting prerequisites. Combat Style (Ex): At 3rd level, a soulknife must select one of the following combat styles to pursue: Two Weapon Combat, Power, Finesse, Defensive, Ranged, or Cunning. This choice affects the character's class features, but does not restrict his selection of feats or special abilities. If the soulknife selects Two Weapon Combat, he gains Two-Weapon Fighting as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If the soulknife selects Power, he gains Power Attack as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If the soulknife selects Finesse, he gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. (Note that a soulknife cannot apply the benefits of Weapon Finesse to his mind blade unless it is a light weapon or in the form of a weapon that can benefit from Weapon Finesse, such as a rapier.) If the soulknife selects Defensive, he gains Combat Expertise as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If the soulknife selects Ranged, he gains Precise Shot as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If the soulknife selects Cunning, he can make an additional two attacks of oppourtunity per round. Mind Blade Enhancement (Su): At 4th level, a soulknife gains the ability to enhance his mind blade. He can add as many of the weapon special abilities as he wishes from the table below to his mindblade, provided the total effective enhancement bonus of all the special abilities added does not exceed +1 and the abilities are legal for the mind blade's form. At every four levels beyond 4th (8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th), the total value all the enhancements a soulknife can add to his weapon improves to by 1, so a 12th level soulknife could have special abilities totaling an effective enhancement bonus of +3 on his mind blade. A soulknife with a double weapon mind blade applies the special abilities to only the primary head. The weapon ability or abilities remain the same every time the soulknife materializes his mind blade (unless he decides to reassign its abilities; see below). A soulknife can reassign the ability or abilities he has added to his mind blade. To do so, he must first spend one hour in concentration. After that period, the mind blade materializes with the new ability or abilities selected by the soulknife. A soulknife can also add special abilities to his mind blade that are not on the list below, but the process is more difficult. The soulknife must have a weapon with the special ability he wishes to aquire to study and the ability he wishes to aquire must be an enhancement bonus equivalent ability. The soulknife must spend a number of weeks studying the weapon equal to the enhancement bonus equivalent of the ability, and expend 200 xp per week spent in study this way. At the end of this time period the soulknife makes a Knowledge (Psionics) check to master the ability (DC 15 + the manifester level of the weapon he is studying). If the check suceeds, the soulknife has mastered the ability and can select it as though it were on his normal list of special abilities. If the check fails, the attempt is wasted and the soulknife cannot attempt to learn that ability again until he gains another rank in Knowledge (Psionics). Weapon Enhancement Special Bonus Ability Value Defending +1 Disipater +1 Distance +1 Flaming +1 Frost +1 Ghost Touch +1 Keen +1 Ki Focus +1 Lucky +1 Merciful +1 Mighty Cleaving +1 Psychokinetic +1 Seeking +1 Shock +1 Sundering +1 Thundering +1 Throwing +1 Vicious +1 Anarchic* +2 Axiomatic* +2 Bane +2^ Collision +2 Disruption +2 Flaming Burst +2 Holy* +2 Icy Burst +2 Unholy* +2 Mindcrusher +2 Psychokinetic Burst +2 Shocking Burst +2 Suppression +2 Wounding +2 Bodyfeeder +3 Mindfeeder +3 Speed +3 Soulbreaker +3 Brilliant Energy+4 Coup de Grace +5 *A soulknife must be of the appropriate alighnment to select this ability. For example, only a good soulknife may select the Holy special ability ^Due to the flexibility with which a soulknife can change his mindblade, a soulknife must pay an additional cost for the Bane special ability. A soulknife selects what creature is the target of his mind blade's Bane special ability when adding it to his mind blade. Shaping Mastery (Su): At 5th level, a soulknife's mind blade reshapes itself to better serve his chosen combat style. If the soulknife selected Two Weapon Combat, he can manifest a second mind blade, identical to the first. Manifesting the second mind blade requires the same type of action required to manifest his primary mind blade. However, while the soulknife has two mind blades manifested the enhancement bonus of both mind blades is 1 lower than normal. For example, a 12th level soulknife can normaly manifest a mind blade with a +3 enhancement bonus, but when he manifests two mind blades, his mind blades only have a +2 enhancement bonus. Alternatively, a soulknife with a double weapon mind blade learns to manifest his mind blade so that both ends are identical, but while doing so the enhancement bonus of both ends of the mind blade are 1 lower than normal. In addition, the soulknife's mind blade always counts as a light weapon for determining the penalties from Two Weapon Fighting. If the soulknife selected Power, he gains the ability to enhance his mind blade's ability to deal damage, but at the cost of reducing the weapon's accuracy. The soulknife can reduce the enhancement bonus of his mind blade on attack rolls to a minimum of 0 and increase the mind blade's damage by the same amount. In addition, the soulknife adds twice his Strength bonus to melee damage rolls when wielding a weapon two handed, instead of the normal one and a half times his Strength bonus. If the soulknife selected Finesse, he gains the ability to enhance his mind blade's accuracy, but at the cost of reducing the weapon's damage. As a free action once per round, the soulknife can reduce the enhancement bonus of his mind blade on damage rolls to a minimum of 0 and increase the mind blade's enhancement bonus on attack rolls by the same amount. In addition, the soulknife can apply the benefits of Weapon Finesse to his mind blade regardless of its form. If the soulknife selected Defensive, he gains the ability to create a shield from psychic energy as a move action, as visualy distinctive as the wielder's mind blade. A psychic shield is treated as a normal heavy shield for determining its statistics (such as shield bonus to AC, arcane spell failure chance, and the damage dealt on a shield bash) except as noted below. A psychic shield is composed of psychic energy and so is unaffected by spells such as heat metal or warp wood, and, being weightless, imposes no Armor Check penalty. A psychic shield has an enhancement bonus to its shield bonus equal to the enhancement bonus on its owner's mind blade. However, while the soulknife has a psychic shield manifested the enhancement bonus of his mind blade is 1 lower than normal. In addition to being able to form a psychic shield, the soulknife may always add one and a half times his strength modifier to damage rolls made with his mindblade when wielding it, even if wielding it one handed. If the soulknife selected Ranged, he refines his mind blade's accuracy to extrodinary levels. His mind blade's range increment doubles. In addition, if the soulknife's mind blade is a projectile weapon, the soulknife can create projectiles of the appropriate variety as a free action. Such projectiles are no better or worse than an ordinary projectile of their type, but can be created endlessly. Projectiles created using this ability wink out of existence moments after leaving the soulknife's hands, so they cannot be used by anyone other than the soulknife. If the soulknife selected Cunning, he gains the abilty to strike out with his mind blade beyond its normal reach. His mind blade is considered a reach weapon, if it is not normaly a reach weapon, and so he threatens foes out to twice his normal reach. In addition, you still threaten adjacent squares with your mind blade, even though you are wielding a reach weapon. Bonus Feats: At 6th level and again at 13th and 19th level, a soulknife gains a bonus feat. These bonus feats must be drawn from the list of fighter bonus feats or must be a psionic feat. A soulknife must meet all the prequisites for a bonus feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums. These bonus feats are in addition to the feat a character of any class gets every three levels. A soulknife is not limited to the list of fighter bonus feats or the category of psionic feats when choosing these feats. Improved Combat Style (Ex): At 7th level, a soulknife's mastery of his chosen combat style improves. If the soulknife selected Two Weapon Combat, he gains Improved Two-Weapon Fighting as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If the soulknife selected Power, he gains Great Cleave as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If the soulknife selected Finesse, he adds his Dexterity modifier to damage rolls with his mind blade. If the soulknife selected Defensive, he gains Improved Shield Bash as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. In addition, his psychic shield deals damage as a spiked shield when used to perform a shield bash. If the soulknife selected Ranged, he gains Manyshot as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If the soulknife selected Cunning, any opponent making a charge attack that passes through a square he threatens provokes an Attack of Oppourtunity from the soulknife. Combat Focus (Su): At 9th level, a soulknife begins to uncover the secrets of his chosen combat style and learns how to enhance his fighting style when focused. If the soulknife selected Two Weapon Combat, he gains a +2 insight bonus on attack rolls as long as he is psionicly focused and attacking with two weapons. If the soulknife selected Power, he gains a +2 insight bonus on melee damage rolls as long as he is psionicly focused. If the soulknife selected Finesse, he gains +2 insight bonus on inititive checks as long as he is psionicly focused and wielding a light weapon or a weapon that can benefit from the Weapon Finesse feat, such as a rapier or a spiked chain. If the soulknife selected Defensive, he gains a +2 insight bonus to Armor Class as long as he is psionicly focused and wielding a shield. If the soulknife selected Ranged, he gains a +2 insight bonus on ranged damage rolls as long as he is psionicly focused. If the soulknife selected Cunning, he gains a +2 insight bonus on damage rolls made as part of an Attack of Oppourtunity as long as he is psionicly focused. Greater Combat Style (Ex): At 11th level, a soulknife's mastery of his chosen combat style continues to improve. If the soulknife selected Two Weapon Combat, he gains Greater Two-Weapon Fighting as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If the soulknife selected Power, he can use Power Attack to a greater advantage. He gains a +3 bonus on damage for every -2 penalty he takes on his melee attack rolls when using the Power Attack feat (or a +3 for every -1 penalty if wielding a weapon two-handed other than a double weapon). If the soulknife selected Finesse, he gains a +4 bonus on attack rolls made to confirm a critical hit. If the soulknife selected Defensive, when he makes a full attack action, he can make a single shield bash attack at his full base attack bonus in adition to his normal attacks, without suffering the penalties normaly associated with two weapon fighting. If the soulknife selected Ranged, he gains Improved Precise Shot as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If the soulknife selected Cunning, any square the soulknife threatens is treated as difficult terrain by his opponents. Mental Surge (Su): At 15th level, a soulknife further uncover the secrets of his chosen combat style and learns how to drive himself to feats of superhuman ability with psionic power. If the soulknife selected Two Weapon Combat, he gains the ability to surge forward and deliver lightning fast strikes. Whenever the soulknife charges, he may spend 2 power points to be able to make a full attack at the end of his charge. If the soulknife selected Power, he gains the ability to imbue his mind blade with destructive force. Whenever the soulknife makes a melee attack with his mind blade, he may spend any number of power points to deal an additional 1d4 points of damage on that attack per power point spent. If the attack misses, the additional damage is wasted. The decision to spend power points must be made before the attack is rolled. A soulknife cannot spend more power points on this ability than his Soulknife level. If the soulknife selected Finesse, he gains the ability to parry nearly any attack with supernatural speed. Whenever the soulknife is subjected to a ranged or melee attack he is aware of, he can spend 2 power points in response to attempt to parry the attack. The soulknife makes an attack roll with his mind blade and uses the higher of his attack roll or his AC as his effective AC against the incoming attack. He can decide to use this ability after learning the result of his opponent's attack. To use this ability a soulknife must be wielding his mindblade. If the soulknife selected Defensive, he gains the ability to avoid blows with prescient ease. Whenever the soulknife is subjected to a melee attack, he may spend any number of power points to gain a bonus to his Armor Class against that attack equal to the number of power points spent. If the soulknife selected Ranged, he gains the ability to aim his ranged attacks with unnatural accuracy. Whenever the soulknife makes a ranged attack with his mind blade, he may spend any number of power points to gain a bonus on that ranged attack roll equal to the number of power points spent. If the soulknife selected Cunning, he gains the ability to shift position in an instant, to better be able to exploit his opponent's frailties. As an immediate action, he may spend 1 power point to move up to 10 feet. Combat Style Mastery (Ex): At 17th level, a soulknife masters his chosen combat style. If the soulknife selected Two Weapon Combat, he can make a fourth attack with his off hand weapon, albeit at a -15 penalty. If the soulknife selected Power, he can take a 5 foot step in between cleave attempts. This does not allow him to make take more than one 5 foot step in a single round. If the soulknife selected Finesse, he gains a +4 bonus on opposed attack rolls made as part of a disarm or sunder attempt (either one you make yourself or one you are resisting). If the soulknife selected Defensive, the shield bonus of any shield he wields is increased by 2. If the soulknife selected Ranged, he gains Greater Manyshot as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If the soulknife selected Cunning, the DC of Concentration checks made to cast a spell on the defensive or to manifest a power on the defensive when in an area threatened by the soulknife is increased by 1/2 his Base Attack Bonus. Master's Focus (Su): At 20th level, a soulknife learns the final secret of his chosen style of combat, how to enter a perfect state of mental focus. If the soulknife selected Two Weapon Combat, he can stike faster than the eye can follow by expending his psionic focus. As a full round action, the soulknife can give up his regular attacks and instead make one attack with each mind blade you are wielding against every opponent you can reach. He can make 5 foot steps in between attacks during this action and if doing so brings additional targets within the soulknife's reach he can attack them as well. In addition, the soulknife can make one extra 5 foot step while taking such an action. If the soulknife selected Power, he can expend his psionic focus as a swift action to imbue his mind blade with concussive force for 1 round. While under the effects of this ability, whenever the soulknife hits with an attack, the target of the attack must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the soulknife's level + the soulknife's Strength modifier) or be knocked prone and also be rendered dazed for 1 round by the attack. If the soulknife selected Finesse, he can expend his psionic focus as a swift action to enable him to exploit gaps in his opponents defenses with supernatural speed and accuracy. While under the effects of this ability, the critical threat range of his mind blade is increased by 2 for one round. This ability stacks with the benifits such as the Improved Critical feat or the keen weapon special property (but such effects continue not to stack with each other). For example, a soulknife with a keen rapier mind blade would have a critical threat range of 11-20 when under the effects of this ability. If the soulknife selected Defensive, he can expend his psionic focus as an immediate action to become able to deliver devastating counterattacks for 1 round. While under the effect of this ability, when an opponent makes a melee attack against the soulknife and fails to hit his Armor Class, the soulknife can immediately make a melee attack against that creature with his mind blade at his full base attack bonus. A soulknife can activate this ability after seeing the results of his opponent's attack roll. If the soulknife selected Ranged, he can expend his psionic focus to deliver attacks with lethal accuracy for 1 round. While under the effect of this ability, the soulknife gains a +5 bonus on all ranged damage rolls with his mind blade. Also, the soulknife does not provoke attacks of oppourtunity for making a ranged attack while threatened, threatens the surrounding area out to 15 feet, and can make attacks of opportunity with ranged attacks. If the soulknife selected Cunning, he can expend his psionic focus to exploit even miniscule lapses in his opponent's defenses for 1 round. While under the effects of this ability, any action by an opponent (other than the full defense action) provokes an Attack of Oppourtunity, even actions that normaly do not provoke Attacks of Oppourtunity. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, what does everyone think? EDIT: 9/13/07 - Tweaked Finesse Shaping Mastery Benefit 9/14/07 - Tweaked Shaping Mastery further. 9/28/07 - Clarified Defensive Combat Style further. 12/13/07 - Added Cunning Style. 12/14/07 - Tweaked class features further.
kyeudo 09-05-07, 10:59 PM	New Feats Mind Blade Training [Psionic] You are much more proficient in creating a mind blade than you would seem. Prerequisite: Ability to generate a mind blade Benefit: You treat your soulknife level as 4 higher for the purposes of determining the enhancement bonus of your mind blade and for determining the special abilities your mind blade has from the mind blade enhancement class feature. However, your effective soulknife level can never exceed your Hit Dice. Soul of Steel [Psionic] You can channel your iron will through your mind blade, honing its edge against the tough hides of your foes. Prerequisite: Ability to generate a mind blade, Iron Will Benefit: To use this feat, you must expend your psionic focus. For the next minute, you get a +2 on Will Saves, and your mind blade overcomes damage reduction as if it was both cold iron and silver. These bonuses immediately end if you become psionicly focused before the duration is over. Greater Soul of Steel [Psionic] Your iron will is almost unbreakable, and your mind blade reflects this. Prerequisite: Ability to generate a mind blade, Soul of Steel, Iron Will, base attack bonus +4 Benefit: When you use the Soul of Steel feat, the bonus on Will Saves increases to +4 and your mind blade also overcomes damage reduction as though it was adamantine. Expansive Mind [Psionic] The broad horizons of your mind are manifest in the size of your mind blade. Prerequisite: Wisdom 13, Monkey Grip or Powerful Build, Ability to generate a mind blade Benefit: Your mind blade deals damage as if it were one size category larger than it actualy is. Keen Mind [Psionic] Your cunning sharpens the your mind blade to a razor's edge. Prerequisite: Intelligence 13, base attack bonus +6, Ability to generate a mind blade Benefit: The threat range of your mind blade is doubled. This effect doesn't stack with any other effect that expands the threat range of a weapon. Brilliant Mind [Psionic] Your mind blade glows with the light of your intelligence. Prerequisite: Int 11 Benefit: You can cause your mind blade to glow brightly as a free action. While glowing, your mind blade sheds bright light out to 20 feet and shadowy illumination out to 40 feet. You can supress your mind blades glow as a free action. Dazzling Brilliance [Psionic] Your mind blade's burning light interferes with your enemy's vision. Prerequisites: Int 13, Brilliant Mind Benefit: While your mind blade is glowing, any enemy struck by your mind blade must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 you character level + your Intelligence modifer) or be dazzeled for 1 round. Cutting Brilliance [Psionic] Your mind blade's brilliant energy strikes your foes even through heavy armor. Prerequisites: Int 15, Brilliant Mind, Dazzling Brilliance Benefit: While your mind blade is glowing, your mind blade negates up to one point of armor bonus and one point of shield bonus of any enemy you attack. Blinding Brilliance [Psionic] You can cause your mind blade to blaze with such light that it can blind your foes. Prerequisites: Int 15, Brilliant Mind, Dazzling Brilliance Benefit: To use this feat, you must expend your psionic focus. While your mind blade is glowing, your attack with your mind blade has a chance to blind your target. Any opponent struck by your attack must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 you character level + your Intelligence modifer) or be blinded for 1 round. Flickering Blade [Psionic, Style] You have mastered the art of rapidly flickering your mind blade into and out of existance to misdirect your oponent's attempts to parry and dodge. Prerequistes: Int 13, Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, Ability to generate a Mind Blade, Swift Draw class feature Benefit: Whenever you miss with a melee attack made with your mind blade, you may make a feint attempt against your target as a free action. You may only make one such attempt per round. EDIT: 9/13/07 - Added more feats.
MaverickWolf 09-06-07, 01:15 AM	A few things here, though I'm glad to see a soulknife variant designed as a fighter. One: No exotic weapons, unless they're already proficient in one. Some exotic weapons ARE exotic for a reason (spiked chain, jovar, things like that). Two: If they choose a ranged weapon, let it generate its own ammo. It's already a magical bow, so giving out free NORMAL ammo doesn't matter. Remember, bows pass on their enhancements to arrows, even if the arrows aren't masterwork. Three: Just make an Improved Weapon Finesse feat (or rip it off another poster, as there's more than one variant of it with different pre-reqs around), and give it to the Finesse style soulknife instead of making it a special ability just for them. Improved Weapon Finesse should exist anyway. Four: Why Great Cleave without Cleave? Five: There needs to be some rule of some sort for forming two weapons (especially with TWF as a combat style). Said rule should also apply to double weapons. Six: Defensive has the same problem. This guy's abilities revolve around the equipment he makes himself. He shouldn't have to get additional stuff to make full use of his class features. Seven: I don't understand the point of Expansive Mind. You already have it set though they can make a bigger (or smaller) version of their chosen weapon (though I'm not sure why they would, or why you added it). Maybe I'm missing something due to being tired, but something feels off. Anyway, that's all I've got to say for now. I'll probably pop back in some other time though.
kyeudo 09-06-07, 11:43 AM	Thanks for the feedback. I'll point out a few things I think you missed. A few things here, though I'm glad to see a soulknife variant designed as a fighter. One: No exotic weapons, unless they're already proficient in one. Some exotic weapons ARE exotic for a reason (spiked chain, jovar, things like that). I consider them to be effectively gaining an exotic weapon proficiency feat at 1st level, should they choose to use it. Since the mind blade form locks at first level, barring retraining, they couldn't change the form later, so all forms have to be availible at first level for the fix to work conceptualy. Two: If they choose a ranged weapon, let it generate its own ammo. It's already a magical bow, so giving out free NORMAL ammo doesn't matter. Remember, bows pass on their enhancements to arrows, even if the arrows aren't masterwork. Check the ranged style shaping mastery benefits. Free arrows included from then on. Three: Just make an Improved Weapon Finesse feat (or rip it off another poster, as there's more than one variant of it with different pre-reqs around), and give it to the Finesse style soulknife instead of making it a special ability just for them. Improved Weapon Finesse should exist anyway. I'm unsure of what you mean. Do you mean the Dex to damage ability? Already exists as a feat. Shadow Blade or something like that from ToB, but you have to be in a Shadow Hand Stance and I wanted to keep this usable with the core+xph. Four: Why Great Cleave without Cleave? Who takes Great Cleave currenty? not many people. I decided to give soulknives something shiny that wouldn't break the class, kind of like Rangers get Improved Precise Shot without the prerequistes. Five: There needs to be some rule of some sort for forming two weapons (especially with TWF as a combat style). Said rule should also apply to double weapons. Check shaping mastery for the Two Weapon Combat style. Already covered. Six: Defensive has the same problem. This guy's abilities revolve around the equipment he makes himself. He shouldn't have to get additional stuff to make full use of his class features. Check Shaping Mastery for Defensive style. Free Shield. Seven: I don't understand the point of Expansive Mind. You already have it set though they can make a bigger (or smaller) version of their chosen weapon (though I'm not sure why they would, or why you added it). Maybe I'm missing something due to being tired, but something feels off. First, your mind blade's size is set at 1st level. Then, if you choose a large mind blade, you can take the feat and have a Large mind blade that deals damage as a Huge weapon. Its a bit of candy for those Soulknives with a decent Wis score and Monkey Grip or Powerful Build. Anyway, that's all I've got to say for now. I'll probably pop back in some other time though. Please do. Love to get feedback.
MaverickWolf 09-06-07, 12:16 PM	Yeah, I meant the Dex to damage ability. I'm also aware of the ToB feat. However, the fact is that it should simply be an Improved Weapon Finesse feat, and that's it. ((And probably only like BAB+2 and Weapon Finesse for a pre-req, so it can be grabbed early enough to be useful.)) I will admit I somehow overlooked Shaping Mastery. But that's not until 9th level, to use abilities they've had since 3rd (or 1st, in the case of the problem with ranged weaponry. That's bad design. I still don't think Exotic forms should be allowed without spending a feat on the exotic weapon first. Heck, for flavor reasons, you shouldn't be able to shape anything you're not proficient in (but they should get all simple and all martial, not just simple). I still don't understand the point of allowing the size differences for forming weapons. As it stands, they have to form a Medium mind blade anyway, or they suffer nasty penalties for wielding improperly sized weapons. It's just not worth it. I'm not against Expansive Mind, but the flavor doesn't work to me (and it certainly shouldn't require Monkey Grip or Powerful Build).
kyeudo 09-06-07, 01:36 PM	Again, thanks for the feedback. It's nice to get a point of view other than my own. Yeah, I meant the Dex to damage ability. I'm also aware of the ToB feat. However, the fact is that it should simply be an Improved Weapon Finesse feat, and that's it. ((And probably only like BAB+2 and Weapon Finesse for a pre-req, so it can be grabbed early enough to be useful.)) I don't want to create feats just to hand out in a fix, and since I could just hand it out as a class feature, thats what I did. Besides, if it was a feat they could use it with weapons other than their mind blades. I will admit I somehow overlooked Shaping Mastery. But that's not until 9th level, to use abilities they've had since 3rd (or 1st, in the case of the problem with ranged weaponry. That's bad design. You're right. 9th is a little late to pick up an ability that defines a character's combat style. I'll switch Combat Focus with Shaping Mastery to get it down to 5th level. I still don't think Exotic forms should be allowed without spending a feat on the exotic weapon first. Heck, for flavor reasons, you shouldn't be able to shape anything you're not proficient in (but they should get all simple and all martial, not just simple). In the basic soulknife, they pick up a free Weapon Focus feat. I essentialy traded that feat for a free Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat. As far as flavor goes, I see the form that a soulknife's weapon takes as an expression of how the soulknife wants to fight, but allow for odd styles, so I left all weapons on the list of options. Besides, theres only about 3 or 4 weapons out there that are actualy worth a feat to take. Who wants to spend a feat to have nunchucks for a mind blade? As for a soulknife's weapon proficiencies, I see them as being extremely focused when it comes to weapons training. They master their mind blades and disdain anything else. After all, why learn to fight with a longsword when your mind blade is a warhammer? I still don't understand the point of allowing the size differences for forming weapons. As it stands, they have to form a Medium mind blade anyway, or they suffer nasty penalties for wielding improperly sized weapons. It's just not worth it. I'm not against Expansive Mind, but the flavor doesn't work to me (and it certainly shouldn't require Monkey Grip or Powerful Build). The reason for the range of size choices is to give some options to Half-Giants and others with Powerful Build and to those people who take Monkey Grip as a roleplaying choice. The current soulknife defines your weapon size, and you can't change it ever, making soulknife a bad choice for those races. Expansive Mind doesn't change the effort needed to wield your mind blade, just the weapon's damage, so you can have a Medium longsword that deals damage as though Large and still wield it one handed. The reason for the prerequisites is I didn't want to have the feat turn into an uber version of Weapon Specialization. I felt that it needed something that would limit the feat's avalability and fit thematicly, and Monkey Grip worked well enough. Besides which, its a feat, and so is very optional.
DaTokenBlackGuy 09-12-07, 06:05 PM	Is it possoble for a non-psionic to be trained to use mindblade and temporal acceleration?
kyeudo 09-12-07, 06:50 PM	I'm not sure If I understad what your asking. Can a race that is not naturaly psionic become a soulknife? Yes.
kyeudo 09-13-07, 06:49 PM	Well, I added some new feats and tweaked the Shaping Mastery effect for Finesse. Anyone care to comment?
Novem 09-13-07, 08:11 PM	Amazing. I'm going to make one -right now.
kyeudo 09-14-07, 01:12 AM	Well, could you at comment on what you like the most? Tell me what seems a little too strong or a little too weak? What don't you like? I'm glad you like it, but a little feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Novem 09-15-07, 01:56 PM	The idea of a combat style is just cool, and the abilities presented actually mesh with the concept. I take martial arts, and (as my art is completely defensive in nature) I immediately went for the Defensive combat style. I made an Arctic Kobold Soulknife 1 with this class. Died vs. Regdar and his Greatsword, but still a cool class. (Might want to consider making it stronger at very early levels). Also, the 20th level Defensive ability (the ability to attack an opponent who just missed) should, in fact, be the basis of the whole d20 combat system (as that's how combat really is). You might want to strengthen Finesse, and possibly add another combat style: Reaction. Reaction would play to the concept I mentioned above as it's only real power, and that power would become better and more complete in levels. This Soulknife is much stronger than the SRD one, (good), but still balanced. I like the idea of a martial class with only a good Will save- feels very Psionic. The 4+Int skill points are also good. In many ways, I like this Soulknife because it is what the Fighter was meant to be.
kyeudo 09-15-07, 02:34 PM	The idea of a combat style is just cool, and the abilities presented actually mesh with the concept. I take martial arts, and (as my art is completely defensive in nature) I immediately went for the Defensive combat style. I made an Arctic Kobold Soulknife 1 with this class. Died vs. Regdar and his Greatsword, but still a cool class. (Might want to consider making it stronger at very early levels). Also, the 20th level Defensive ability (the ability to attack an opponent who just missed) should, in fact, be the basis of the whole d20 combat system (as that's how combat really is). You might want to strengthen Finesse, and possibly add another combat style: Reaction. Reaction would play to the concept I mentioned above as it's only real power, and that power would become better and more complete in levels. This Soulknife is much stronger than the SRD one, (good), but still balanced. I like the idea of a martial class with only a good Will save- feels very Psionic. The 4+Int skill points are also good. In many ways, I like this Soulknife because it is what the Fighter was meant to be. Wow, thanks for the compliment. I did a little to strengthen Finnesse. I changed the Shaping Mastery benefit for them the other day, and I think it should help them out, but I don't know if its enough. I suppose I could throw in a bonus feat at first level to make the class a little stronger. But if I do that, it will definately make the Soulknife more powerful than the Fighter at first level, which is realy the only time the Fighter can truly shine. I don't know if I should. What do you think? As for another combat style, I was toying with a style based on Combat Reflexes and taking advantage of AoOs, but I don't know what I would do for Shaping Mastery, Mental Surge, or Master's Focus effects.
Novem 09-15-07, 06:25 PM	You're right, perhaps it's OK that Fighters are stronger at level 1. As for the other abilities, you could give them the ability to Parry: Sacrifice an AoO attempt. Make an attack roll against an incoming melee attack. If your roll beats theirs, add 1/3 your Soulknife level to Armor Class The ability to strike after Parrying: For Mental Surge, a successful Parry now causes the opponent to provoke an Attack of Opportunity For Master's Focus, Let them spend Psionic focus to automatically win a grapple check, Parry attempt, or spend focus to make an Attack of Opportunity vs. a threatened foe, even if the foe's actions would not provoke.
kyeudo 09-15-07, 09:45 PM	You're right, perhaps it's OK that Fighters are stronger at level 1. As for the other abilities, you could give them the ability to Parry: Sacrifice an AoO attempt. Make an attack roll against an incoming melee attack. If your roll beats theirs, add 1/3 your Soulknife level to Armor Class The ability to strike after Parrying: For Mental Surge, a successful Parry now causes the opponent to provoke an Attack of Opportunity For Master's Focus, Let them spend Psionic focus to automatically win a grapple check, Parry attempt, or spend focus to make an Attack of Opportunity vs. a threatened foe, even if the foe's actions would not provoke. Well, the parry ability is already the Finesse Mental Surge ability, so I wouldn't want to put it on another style. What would be a good name for such a style? It takes advantage of momentary gaps in your opponent's defenses, so maybe we should call in Cunning style. I happened to just think of a few possible abilities for the style: Combat Focus: +2 insight bonus on attack rolls made as part of an Attack of Oppourtunity. Mental Surge: Spend Power Points to buy more AoO attempts in the round. Master's Focus: Expend your Psionic Focus. For one round, actions your opponents take while in a square you threaten provoke AoOs, even those that normaly don't provoke AoOs. But what would be a good Shaping Mastery effect? and what would the Style advancement look like? Currently, I'm trying to keep the Style advancement's power in line with the benefit a tree of feats would provide, but I'm at a loss for good AoO feats past Combat Reflexes.
Novem 09-15-07, 10:00 PM	The Shaping Mastery ability could be this: You can form your mind blade in no time at all. You can therefore Feint in combat, seemingly unarmed, to provoke an attack against you, the "Defenseless" foe. When you do, the enemy automatically is flat-footed and provokes an Attack of Opportunity from your instantaneously summoned Mind Blade.
kyeudo 09-15-07, 10:09 PM	Doesn't realy work. If you'll look at the Shaping Mastery abilities, they all change the mind blade in some way, either allowing them to shift its enhancement bonuses, make another mind blade, or some other effect related to shaping the psychic energy of the mind blade. I thought about making the Shaping Mastery ability for it be reach, but then I imagined how that would look, and I just couldn't see a greatsword with reach looking cool.
Novem 09-15-07, 10:24 PM	Perhaps the Shaping Mastery can be the ability to make a single Touch Attack, instead of a Full Attack? Or the ability to ignore up to it's Enhancement bonus of DR? A Brilliant Energy- type thing? How about this: The Soulknife chooses one weapon form. While using that form, the a special defensive action can be made during an opponent's attack: Both make opposed Initiative rolls. If the Soulknife wins, he makes a single melee attack against his opponent, who must make a DC (Soulknife level + Soulknife's INT modifier) Fortitude save or waste the attack (or, in the case of a full attack, the last iterative attack)
kyeudo 09-15-07, 10:41 PM	First, no one ever wants to give up a full attack. Second, those abilities are either replicated by a feat, or else don't fit with the theme of exploiting your opponent's mistakes. Third, you realy like the idea of parrying, don't you?
Novem 09-15-07, 10:52 PM	Yes. As I mentioned, I take martial arts, and the Parry and the check (guard) are the two most important parts, after Stance. The Reaction or "Cunning" concept is based off Defense, after all. Which brings up the interesting question of a Sublime Soulknife.
kyeudo 09-15-07, 11:25 PM	The Sublime Way Soulknife has already been done. Just vist the directory of soulknife fixes to find it. Its a pretty strong fix. What I'm looking for as a Shaping Mastery ability is some mostly static ability that can be tied to the form of the mind blade that somehow exemplifies taking advantage of your opponent's mistakes or helps you cause your opponent's mistakes.
kyeudo 09-26-07, 10:42 PM	Well, time to give this one last shot. I've gotten some good feedback from those who did post, and I want to refine it further.
PrinceCurtis 09-29-07, 07:13 AM	Hmm I might use this to make the Zero character build i've been wanting... That's if it hasen't been done.
kyeudo 12-13-07, 06:04 PM	I finaly decided to update this with the new Cunning style, and practice the art of thread necromancy.
BlaineTog 12-13-07, 07:14 PM	[Hit Die: d10. ... Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.It'd be kinda cool if these could change based off his combat style, though there's admittedly no precedent I can think of. Psionic Aptitude: A soulknife has a power point reserve equal to one half his soulknife level rounded down (to a minimum of 1 power point). (This class feature provides the character with the psionic power he needs to materialize his mind blade, if he has no power points otherwise.)It seems strange to give him an ability that confers effectivelly no benefit until 15th level. Swift Draw (Su): At 2nd level, a soulknife becomes able to materialize his mind blade as a free action instead of a move action. However, if he is in a place where psionic effects do not normally function (such as within a null psionics field) he can still make only one attempt to maintain his mind blade each round. This class feature counts as Quick Draw for the purposes of meeting prerequisites.Remove the restriction when in null psionics fields, or keep it a will save; as written, it can almost never come into play (even if null psionics fields were more common than very un) and is just dead weight. If the soulknife selected Power, he gains the ability to enhance his mind blade's ability to deal damage, but at the cost of reducing the weapon's accuracy. The soulknife can reduce the enhancement bonus of his mind blade on attack rolls to a minimum of 0 and increase the mind blade's damage by the same amount. In addition, the soulknife adds twice his Strength bonus to melee damage rolls when wielding a weapon two handed, instead of the normal one and a half times his Strength bonus.Phrasing fixed. If the soulknife selected Finesse, he gains the ability to enhance his mind blade's accuracy, but at the cost of reducing the weapon's damage. As a free action once per round, the soulknife can reduce the enhancement bonus of his mind blade on damage rolls by any amount that does not exceed the normal enhancement bonus of his mind blade and increase the mind blade's enhancement bonus on attack rolls by the same amount. In addition, the soulknife can apply the benefits of Weapon Finesse to his mind blade regardless of its form.If he takes Power Attack and two-hands the weapon, he can use this ability to get free damage. If the soulknife selected Defensive, ... In addition to being able to form a psychic shield, the soulknife may always add one and a half times his strength modifier to damage rolls made with his mindblade when wielding it, even if wielding it one handed.What?! Why? If the soulknife selected Ranged, he refines his mind blade's accuracy to extrodinary levels. His mind blade's range increment doubles. In addition, if the soulknife's mind blade is a projectile weapon, the soulknife can create projectiles of the appropriate variety as a free action. Such projectiles are no better or worse than an ordinary projectile of their type, but can be created endlessly. Projectiles created using this ability wink out of existence moments after leaving the soulknife's hands, so they cannot be used by anyone other than the soulknife.Or you could just say that he can fire his mindblade as a projectile weapon as many times per round as he has attacks. Combat Focus (Su): At 9th level, a soulknife begins to uncover the secrets of his chosen combat style and learns how to enhance his fighting style when focused. If the soulknife selected Two Weapon Combat, he gains a +2 insight bonus on attack rolls as long as he is psionicly focused and attacking with two weapons.Doesn't it make more sense to simply reduce the penalties from TWF by 2? If the soulknife selected Finesse, he gains +2 insight bonus on inititive checks as long as he is psionicly focused and wielding a light weapon or a weapon that can benefit from the Weapon Finesse feat, such as a rapier or a spiked chain.Wait, wait, wait. So the psion carries a dagger around for no other reason than because it gives him a bonus to intiative at the beginning of combat? If the soulknife selected Cunning, he gains a +2 insight bonus on damage rolls made as part of an Attack of Oppourtunity as long as he is psionicly focused.This is quite a bit worse than Brute Force. Greater Combat Style (Ex): At 11th level, a soulknife's mastery of his chosen combat style continues to improve. If the soulknife selected Finesse, he gains a +4 bonus on attack rolls made to confirm a critical hit.This is much worse than Brute Force. Mental Surge (Su): At 15th level, a soulknife further uncover the secrets of his chosen combat style and learns how to drive himself to feats of superhuman ability with psionic power. If the soulknife selected Defensive, he gains the ability to avoid blows with prescient ease. Whenever the soulknife is subjected to a melee attack, he may spend any number of power points to gain a bonus to his Armor Class against that attack equal to the number of power points spent. A soulknife cannot spend more power points on this ability than his Soulknife level.[/i][/quote]Finnesse is quite a bit better than this, and the cap on it is unnecessary, since at this point, he has 7 pp total (I suppose he could blow a bunch of feats on Psionic Talent, but then he'd totally deserve it, and this + five levels, maybe, of psion would hardly be game-breaking). The same criticism for Ranged. Combat Style Mastery (Ex): At 17th level, a soulknife masters his chosen combat style. If the soulknife selected Two Weapon Combat, he can make a fourth attack with his off hand weapon, albeit at a -15 penalty. If the soulknife selected Brute Power, he can take a 5 foot step in between cleave attempts. If the soulknife selected Finesse, he gains a +4 bonus on opposed attack rolls made as part of a disarm or sunder attempt (either one you make yourself or one you are resisting). If the soulknife selected Defensive, the shield bonus of any shield he wields is increased by 2. If the soulknife selected Ranged, he gains Greater Manyshot as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If the soulknife selected Cunning, the DC of Concentration checks made to cast a spell on the defensive or to manifest a power on the defensive when in an area threatened by the soulknife is increased by 1/2 his Base Attack Bonus.Two weapon combat, Finesse, Defensive, and Ranged are much less powerful than the other abilities, and even most of the 15th level abilities. Plus the flavor's off: they aren't mastering their combat styles, that's at 20th level. [quote][i]Master's Focus (Su): At 20th level, a soulknife learns the final secret of his chosen style of combat, how to enter a perfect state of mental focus.
kyeudo 12-14-07, 02:36 PM	Thanks for dropping in and commenting. Its great to see the guy with the most popular soulknife fix commenting. It'd be kinda cool if these could change based off his combat style, though there's admittedly no precedent I can think of. I don't know if I'd go messing with the skill points and hit dice based on style, else I'll end up with six seperate classes instead of one. Also, a soulknife doesn't have to pick a style until 3rd level, so what would I do before then? It seems strange to give him an ability that confers effectivelly no benefit until 15th level. The psionic aptitude class feature replaces the standard soulknife's Wild Talent feat, so he needs something to give him power points so he can achieve and use psionic focus. At 15th level, it also becomes the limiter for his mental surge ability. Remove the restriction when in null psionics fields, or keep it a will save; as written, it can almost never come into play (even if null psionics fields were more common than very un) and is just dead weight. I'm confused. Its still requires a Will Save to manifest the blade in a null psionics field. I just changed it so that it was no longer a move action to manifest the blade. What did you think I should change? Phrasing fixed. Thanks If he takes Power Attack and two-hands the weapon, he can use this ability to get free damage. True, but what would you suggest I do about it? What?! Why? Mostly aesthetics. All the other shaping mastery effects have an "in addition" ability, so I figured that this one might as well. The only mechanical reason I have is this: one of the main reason sword and board style fighters arn't as viable is because they deal less damage than two handers for only a minor increase in defense. This is just a small thing to help make up the difference. In the end, it's only going to be a point or three of damage difference. Or you could just say that he can fire his mindblade as a projectile weapon as many times per round as he has attacks. I could have put it that way, but I think my way is more flavourful. Doesn't it make more sense to simply reduce the penalties from TWF by 2? Whats the mechanical difference? Insight bonuses are fairly rare, so I don't see many stacking issues, and it keeps things in the same vein as the equivalent abilities. Wait, wait, wait. So the psion carries a dagger around for no other reason than because it gives him a bonus to intiative at the beginning of combat? By this point, his mindblade is finessable, even if its a greathammer, so he always gets the bonus while psionicly focused, just like the rest will end up doing. This is quite a bit worse than Brute Force. Well, I think of Cunning as being a bit stronger than Brute Force, so its a small balancing point. I don't see anything to worry about. I think it helps keep the flavor. This is much worse than Brute Force. I tried to keep the Combat Syle class features equivalent to feats, and I couldn't think of anything appropriate for that level for Finesse. Finnesse is quite a bit better than this, and the cap on it is unnecessary, since at this point, he has 7 pp total (I suppose he could blow a bunch of feats on Psionic Talent, but then he'd totally deserve it, and this + five levels, maybe, of psion would hardly be game-breaking). The same criticism for Ranged. Good point. I'll remove the limits. Two weapon combat, Finesse, Defensive, and Ranged are much less powerful than the other abilities, and even most of the 15th level abilities. Plus the flavor's off: they aren't mastering their combat styles, that's at 20th level. The 'style' series of class features are meant to be more mundane abilities equivalent to a single tree of feats, representing mastery of the ordinary skills of that style, while the other class features (Shaping Mastery, Combat Focus, Mental Surge, and Master's Focus) are meant to represent supernatual mastery of the style. Finess got the shaft when I made the Combat Styles, because I couldn't think of any good feats to convey the style I was imagining, while Cunning got too good of abilities for the same reason. It was all I could come up with at the time.