Soulknife PrC: Morphic Blademind [Archive] - Wizards Community

Soulknife PrC: Morphic Blademind [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DogBackward
02-21-07, 01:07 PM Alright, I love the Soulknife, always have. It's got great flavor, and I love the idea of a weapon that can never truly go away. That said, the lack of more options with it disappoint me. Short sword, longsword, bastard sword... they're ok, but what if I want something else?

I came up with the idea for this PrC a while ago, but just got around to typing it up today. It may need a little watching, I'm not sure if you can do anything truly game-breaking with it or not. I generally don't think that way, so it's sometimes hard for me to catch stuff like that.

As far as I can see, though, it looks like a fairly well-balanced way to have a more versatile and adaptable Soulknife. I realize the names of the abilities aren't all that clever or original, so if you've got any suggestions, I'm open to them.

Morphic Blademind

Prerequisites
BAB +3
Skills Concentration +4
Autohypnosis +4
Knowledge (Psionics +4)
Other Ability to create a mindblade
Shape Mindblade class feature

Class Attributes
HD d8
BAB as Cleric
Saves Reflex, Will
Skills 4+Int
Class As Soulknife
Prof. None

Class Features
Lvl Special
1 Improved Mindblade
2 Improved Shape Mindblade
3 Swift Shape Mindblade
4 Material Mindblade
5 Improved Enhancement
6 Instant Shape Mindblade
7 Greater Shape Mindblade

Improved Mindblade
Add your Morphic Blademind class levels to your Soulknife class
levels to determine the enhancement bonus and other enhancements to
your Mindblade.

Improved Shape Mindblade
When you use your Shape Mindblade ability, you may choose to have
your Minblade become a slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning weapon.
This lasts until you reShape your Mindblade.

Swift Shape Mindblade
You may use your Shape Mindblade class ability as a Swift action.

Material Mindblade
When you shape your Mindblade, you may have it treated as
adamantine, cold iron, or silver for the purpose of overcoming
damage reduction. It does not gain any of the other properties of
the material chosen. This lasts until you reShape your Mindblade.

Improved Enhancement
You may grant your Mindblade any magical enhancement that would be
available to a normal melee weapon. The equivalent enhancement
cannot be more than +1 per four levels in any class that advances
the enhancement of your Mindblade.

Instant Shape Mindblade
You may use your Shape Mindblade class ability as a Free action.

Greater Shape Mindblade
When you use your Shape Mindblade ability, you may shape your
Mindblade into any melee weapon that you are proficient with.
Crake
02-21-07, 05:38 PM Looks nice, but one thing confuses me. Under the Improved Shape Mindblade it says,

When you use your Shape Mindblade ability, you may choose to have
your Minblade become a slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning weapon.
This lasts until you reShape your Mindblade.

Does this mean the mindblade is treated as whatever weapon you previously shaped it into and, just deals a different type of damage? For example, if a soulknife shaped his mindblade into a bastard sword could he opt to make it deal bludgeoning damage, but use a d10(or whatever the bastard sword damage is based on his size) for damage rolls?
DogBackward
02-21-07, 05:53 PM Exactly right. It's meant to be an earlier version of the Greater Shape Mindblade ability. Your Mindblade is starting to become maleable enough that you can change it's "edge", but not so much that you can change its overall shape just yet.
TevolRia
02-22-07, 01:40 PM aren't swift actions faster than free actions or am I thinking of something else? I mean they are about the same thing right? I would go with one or the other unless i'm wrong.
DogBackward
02-22-07, 01:59 PM Not quite, actually. Swift actions can only be used once per round, while Free actions can be used as many times as you wish. So, with Swift Shape Mindblade, you can change your Mindblade's shape each round. With Instant Shape Mindblade, you can change it for each seperate attack in a round, if you've got multiple attacks.

I especially like the image of using a +x Knockback Mindblade. Use a normal weapon to knock your target back, then immediately change to a Reach weapon to knock them back again. And, if you take the proficiency feat, and have a third attack, change it to a whip and hit them yet again at 15ft. It makes for great imagery, and works as a pretty good combat tactic as well.

The original idea is that your Mindblade becomes less and less solid as you gain levels, until it's nothing so much as free-flowing energy at level 7, able to take any shape you can imagine, then flow to a new shape in an instant.

Of course, you can use your own flavor, which is why I only provide the mechanical aspects of my homebrew stuff. I like to let people insert their own fluff, instead of forcing them to use my original flavor for something.
SlanderPanic
02-22-07, 03:38 PM It's not too bad. It makes your soulknife a bit more versatile at the expense of a few special abilities. I can see sliding into it after 9th level (mmm, bladewind,) but I can't really see a character going all the way with it. If you reduce it to a five-level prestige, it would be much more viable.

Here's a feat we're kicking around in my homebrew campaign:

Versatile Mind Blade
Your mind blade's form is limited only by your imagination.
Prerequisites: shape mind blade class feature
Benefit: You can shape your mind blade into the form of any weapon you are proficient with. You may shape your mind blade into two identical light weapons, subject to the normal rules for shaping two short swords.
Normal: The shape mind blade class feature limits you to the forms of a short sword, long sword, or bastard sword.
Kylain
02-22-07, 04:46 PM I especially like the image of using a +x Knockback Mindblade. Use a normal weapon to knock your target back, then immediately change to a Reach weapon to knock them back again. And, if you take the proficiency feat, and have a third attack, change it to a whip and hit them yet again at 15ft. It makes for great imagery, and works as a pretty good combat tactic as well.

Can you say Ivy from Soulcalibur?

All you need to finish it is the ability to turn the weapon into tiny pieces and parts which you can control individually, then grab your opponent and make the little pieces hit them over and over and over while they're flung through the air.

Well, that and the dominatrix outfit...
WinterPsionic
02-23-07, 01:21 PM The ability to take this class at level 3 seems a tad much, based on the advancement of the mind blade the requirements should be MUCH higher. Also the ability to change the weapons between attacks seems a tad broken(escpicially in the manner you described considering the level at which they could attempt it).

I like the flavor however the progression in light of the Soulknife and the other Soulknife based classes it a tad unbalaned. If you wanted to say he specialized in the ability to freely shape and alter his mindblades then negate the level bonus for Morphic Bladewind levels to stack with Soulknife levels to reflect this.

Otherwise I'd suggest stretching it out to 10 levels. Just me :twocents:
DogBackward
02-23-07, 01:39 PM You don't get the Shape Mindblade ability until your 5th level of Soulknife, so you can't take this PrC until level 6, not 3. Also, I believe Knockback is a +3 ability, so you can't get it until level 12, and you can't apply a +3 bonus equivalent until level 14 anyway. Not to mention that you'd have to spend a feat on the Whip proficiency, and that makes the third attack useless against anybody with armor of +1 or NA of +3 or better. So, that tactic is not all that powerful, I think, considering the stuff that can be done with other classes at that level.

Another thing is that it doesn't increase damage save by a die size, maybe two if you spend a EW Proficiency feat. The PrC doesn't stack with all Soulknife abilities, only the enhancement bonuses.

I haven't had the chance to playtest it yet, but I don't see any truly overpowering things you can do with it. I think I'm gonna leave it as is, unless somebody comes up with something truly game-breaking with it.
WinterPsionic
02-23-07, 01:53 PM You don't get the Shape Mindblade ability until your 5th level of Soulknife, so you can't take this PrC until level 6, not 3.

:blush: Sorry missed the shape prereq....I need Coffee...

Also, I believe Knockback is a +3 ability, so you can't get it until level 12, and you can't apply a +3 bonus equivalent until level 14 anyway.

Hmmm True enough, I'm just to used to the house rules allowing all enhancements(with alignment restrictions of course), been used in all 4 groups I've been an SK in.

Not to mention that you'd have to spend a feat on the Whip proficiency

What's to say the line about them being proficient with their own mindblades wouldn't apply to a whip shaped mind blade? and on that point why not go with a Whip-Dagger(which if memory serves doesn't have that restriction)?

and that makes the third attack useless against anybody with armor of +1 or NA of +3 or better.

See above

Another thing is that it doesn't increase damage save by a die size, maybe two if you spend a EW Proficiency feat. The PrC doesn't stack with all Soulknife abilities, only the enhancement bonuses.

Based on the wording of your Improved Mindblade one could interpret it differently...

I haven't had the chance to playtest it yet, but I don't see any truly overpowering things you can do with it. I think I'm gonna leave it as is, unless somebody comes up with something truly game-breaking with it.

It may not be "game-breaking" but it is rather "flavor-breaking" though most don't seem to care about that.

Anyway like I said just my :twocents: disregard them entirely if you want.
DogBackward
02-23-07, 02:10 PM Not at all, discussion is always good. Especially since, as you pointed out, the Improved Mindblade could be interpreted that way. It's meant to apply only to the enhancement bonus, and the +X equivalent enhancement abilities.

The Greater Shape Mindblade only lets you shape it into weapons with which you are already proficient. You wouldn't be able to shape it into a whip until you are proficient with a whip, and you wouldn't be proficient with your Mindblade whip until you shaped it into a whip. Catch 22 there, unless you take the appropraite feat.

Whip dagger is a supplemental item from A&EG, and a 3.0 supplement, at that. The use of the whip dagger is up to the DM, and shouldn't be calculated into the PrC as is. Besides, it's still not all that big a deal, from what I've seen.

Finally, and I think most importantly, how exactly would this be "flavor-breaking". The entire flavor of the Soulknife is that you shape a weapon out of pure energy. Energy is not a rigid bit of matter, so I feel the flavor of a morphic Mindblade fits the flavor perfectly.
WinterPsionic
02-23-07, 02:25 PM Finally, and I think most importantly, how exactly would this be "flavor-breaking". The entire flavor of the Soulknife is that you shape a weapon out of pure energy. Energy is not a rigid bit of matter, so I feel the flavor of a morphic Mindblade fits the flavor perfectly.

Ok I should have clairified, it's more about the flavor of the progression rate then the actual inter-class flavor, the Morphic Blademind is giving up relatively little to gain a truly supernatural growth rate with the understanding of "mind-matter", while I may be alone in my opinions for the rate of growth this class is advertising I would think the base character would need a slightly stronger understanding/considerably more expereince with shaping and using said matter before he could come to fully realize the potential. There was a class, I believe it was in Complete Arcane(or maybe it was Mage), that required an increasing level of prereqs to continue advancing in the class(so IOW you couldn't neccessarily level straight through), that may be an appropriate system for this class and is actually a system I found to be a rather impressive idea for several other classes, both published and homebrewed.
Bauglir
02-25-07, 09:07 PM The class says that Soulknives are proficient with their own mind blades, and they aren't proficient with ordinary longswords, short swords, or bastard swords. Ergo, if you can shape your mindblade into it, you are proficient with that mind blade. Any sane DM would rule that this doesn't apply to Exotic Weapons for this prestige class, though, since the bastard sword shape suggests it and it can get overpowered (I automatically have weapon proficiency and weapon focus and greater weapon focus with everything! hah!).

Also, I'd suggest just saying that the special abilities for improved enhancement "must be of an effective enhancement bonus that you could ordinarily add to your weapon with the Mind Blade Enhancement class feature." And maybe throw in a Psychic Strike die of damage somewhere, shifting all the abilities below it down a level (so that you get improved mind blade and improved shape mind blade at level 1, which is kinda a dead level).
DogBackward
02-25-07, 11:32 PM OK, as a Soulknife, you are proficient with ONLY the following: Simple weapons, minblade. This is barring any feats or multi-classing. The Soulknife class, by its nature, allows you to turn your mindblade into a short sword, and later into a longsword or bastard sword, and then you gain proficiency with them. This PrC allows you to change your mindblade ONLY into what you are already proficient with. At the moment, that is simple weapons, a short sword, a longsword, or a bastard sword, and nothing else. As I said, it's a Catch 22 until you get the actual proficiency through some other means. Which, only then, allows you to change your minblade into that weapon.

As for the "dead level", such things are generally used to help balance a class. Especially one that continues the progression of another class, such as this one. And Psychic Strike doesn't fit the theme at all. This class is about advancing the utility and versatility of the mindblade, not the psychic powers of the soulknife.
Bauglir
02-26-07, 10:58 AM Ah, my bad. I missed that. In that case, it's fine. Though you still aren't actually proficient with normal short swords, longswords or bastard swords.
MaverickWolf
02-26-07, 12:22 PM First, I'd like to note that skills requirements are based on ranks, not on total bonuses. Otherwise, you can get into classes without ever actually having ranks in a skill.

Second, part of me really thinks this should be a five-level prestige class, or a ten-level with more abilities.

Thirdly, your abilities need to be better detailed. The phrasing on a lot of them is ambiguous at best.

If you drop it to a five-level prestige class, ditch the Material Mindblade. There's an enchantment in the Underdark book for that, and with Improved Enchantment, they can just take that.
Uchiha_Arthas
03-02-07, 04:25 PM Generally a good class and I am thinking about using it for a char I am planning to make this weekend but I would advise changing a few things:

1) Make it five levels max.

2) Why is the Hitpoint progression like a cleric's? The SoulKnife normally has a fighter's Hitpoints and I dont really see any power boost to justify the Hitpoint loss.

3) The Improved Mindblade feat at lvl 1 seems a bit gimped to me, there should be something else there keeping it company. Perhaps a later level's feat could be moved there (Plus shorten the overall number of levels).

4) The Material Mind blade ability quite frankly is a bit weak, as Maverick Wolf stated, it is available as an enchancement (with Improved Enchancement) and considering that you have to be level 6 to get this PrC, a char would already have a +1 mindblade as default and get +2 at lvl 8 of the SoulKnife class. This makes most Materials worthless.

5) I'd also consider putting in one weapon proficency feat somewhere in there. It would have to be a melee weapon and probably a weapon that the character has seen before but this would allow the player to get that one weapon they have to have.

My Suggested Improvements and What I'll run by my DM on Monday: I have Italicsised what I changed from yours.

Morphic Blademind

Prerequisites
BAB +3
Skills Concentration +4
Autohypnosis +4
Knowledge (Psionics +4)
Other Ability to create a mindblade
Shape Mindblade class feature

Class Attributes
HD d10
BAB as SoulKnife
Saves Reflex, Will (Suggest as SoulKnife instead)
Skills 4+Int
Class As Soulknife
Prof. None

Class Features
Lvl Special
1 Improved Mindblade, Improved Shape Mindblade
2 Swift Shape Mindblade,
3 Improved Enhancement
4 Instant Shape Mindblade, (Single) Weapon Proficency
5 Greater Shape Mindblade

(Single) Weapon Proficency: You can pick any single Melee weapon out of any
weapon group (Simple, Martial, Exotic etc) and become proficent in it. (If
this is overpowered, it could be changed so that this proficency is only with
the mindBlade version of that weapon).

I am thinking of putting in another (Single) Weapon Proficency in at Lvl two
but I am not sure if that would be overpowering the PrCor not.
lonewolf147
04-04-07, 09:36 AM Has anyone had a chance to playtest this yet? I've been trying to find some alternate PrC for one of my PC's and this one sounds just about right. Reading through the topic I would agree that changing it to a 5 level PrC is much more efficient for the abilities/powers gained.

So I'm wondering how it's working for people before bringing it into my game.
BobtheMoose
04-08-07, 01:05 PM 1 lvl in artificer: +1,000 XP
2 bunny feet(+rest of bunny): 1sp
figuring out the amount of bludgeoning damage done by the crushing weight of your now colossal mind dagger: priceless

there are some things that GP can't buy; for everything else, there's powergaming

for more information, see weapon augmentation, personal(ECS, p.117)&Sizing weapon enhancement(MIC, p.43)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DogBackward 02-21-07, 01:07 PM	Alright, I love the Soulknife, always have. It's got great flavor, and I love the idea of a weapon that can never truly go away. That said, the lack of more options with it disappoint me. Short sword, longsword, bastard sword... they're ok, but what if I want something else? I came up with the idea for this PrC a while ago, but just got around to typing it up today. It may need a little watching, I'm not sure if you can do anything truly game-breaking with it or not. I generally don't think that way, so it's sometimes hard for me to catch stuff like that. As far as I can see, though, it looks like a fairly well-balanced way to have a more versatile and adaptable Soulknife. I realize the names of the abilities aren't all that clever or original, so if you've got any suggestions, I'm open to them. Morphic Blademind Prerequisites BAB +3 Skills Concentration +4 Autohypnosis +4 Knowledge (Psionics +4) Other Ability to create a mindblade Shape Mindblade class feature Class Attributes HD d8 BAB as Cleric Saves Reflex, Will Skills 4+Int Class As Soulknife Prof. None Class Features Lvl Special 1 Improved Mindblade 2 Improved Shape Mindblade 3 Swift Shape Mindblade 4 Material Mindblade 5 Improved Enhancement 6 Instant Shape Mindblade 7 Greater Shape Mindblade Improved Mindblade Add your Morphic Blademind class levels to your Soulknife class levels to determine the enhancement bonus and other enhancements to your Mindblade. Improved Shape Mindblade When you use your Shape Mindblade ability, you may choose to have your Minblade become a slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning weapon. This lasts until you reShape your Mindblade. Swift Shape Mindblade You may use your Shape Mindblade class ability as a Swift action. Material Mindblade When you shape your Mindblade, you may have it treated as adamantine, cold iron, or silver for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. It does not gain any of the other properties of the material chosen. This lasts until you reShape your Mindblade. Improved Enhancement You may grant your Mindblade any magical enhancement that would be available to a normal melee weapon. The equivalent enhancement cannot be more than +1 per four levels in any class that advances the enhancement of your Mindblade. Instant Shape Mindblade You may use your Shape Mindblade class ability as a Free action. Greater Shape Mindblade When you use your Shape Mindblade ability, you may shape your Mindblade into any melee weapon that you are proficient with.
Crake 02-21-07, 05:38 PM	Looks nice, but one thing confuses me. Under the Improved Shape Mindblade it says, When you use your Shape Mindblade ability, you may choose to have your Minblade become a slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning weapon. This lasts until you reShape your Mindblade. Does this mean the mindblade is treated as whatever weapon you previously shaped it into and, just deals a different type of damage? For example, if a soulknife shaped his mindblade into a bastard sword could he opt to make it deal bludgeoning damage, but use a d10(or whatever the bastard sword damage is based on his size) for damage rolls?
DogBackward 02-21-07, 05:53 PM	Exactly right. It's meant to be an earlier version of the Greater Shape Mindblade ability. Your Mindblade is starting to become maleable enough that you can change it's "edge", but not so much that you can change its overall shape just yet.
TevolRia 02-22-07, 01:40 PM	aren't swift actions faster than free actions or am I thinking of something else? I mean they are about the same thing right? I would go with one or the other unless i'm wrong.
DogBackward 02-22-07, 01:59 PM	Not quite, actually. Swift actions can only be used once per round, while Free actions can be used as many times as you wish. So, with Swift Shape Mindblade, you can change your Mindblade's shape each round. With Instant Shape Mindblade, you can change it for each seperate attack in a round, if you've got multiple attacks. I especially like the image of using a +x Knockback Mindblade. Use a normal weapon to knock your target back, then immediately change to a Reach weapon to knock them back again. And, if you take the proficiency feat, and have a third attack, change it to a whip and hit them yet again at 15ft. It makes for great imagery, and works as a pretty good combat tactic as well. The original idea is that your Mindblade becomes less and less solid as you gain levels, until it's nothing so much as free-flowing energy at level 7, able to take any shape you can imagine, then flow to a new shape in an instant. Of course, you can use your own flavor, which is why I only provide the mechanical aspects of my homebrew stuff. I like to let people insert their own fluff, instead of forcing them to use my original flavor for something.
SlanderPanic 02-22-07, 03:38 PM	It's not too bad. It makes your soulknife a bit more versatile at the expense of a few special abilities. I can see sliding into it after 9th level (mmm, bladewind,) but I can't really see a character going all the way with it. If you reduce it to a five-level prestige, it would be much more viable. Here's a feat we're kicking around in my homebrew campaign: Versatile Mind Blade Your mind blade's form is limited only by your imagination. Prerequisites: shape mind blade class feature Benefit: You can shape your mind blade into the form of any weapon you are proficient with. You may shape your mind blade into two identical light weapons, subject to the normal rules for shaping two short swords. Normal: The shape mind blade class feature limits you to the forms of a short sword, long sword, or bastard sword.
Kylain 02-22-07, 04:46 PM	I especially like the image of using a +x Knockback Mindblade. Use a normal weapon to knock your target back, then immediately change to a Reach weapon to knock them back again. And, if you take the proficiency feat, and have a third attack, change it to a whip and hit them yet again at 15ft. It makes for great imagery, and works as a pretty good combat tactic as well. Can you say Ivy from Soulcalibur? All you need to finish it is the ability to turn the weapon into tiny pieces and parts which you can control individually, then grab your opponent and make the little pieces hit them over and over and over while they're flung through the air. Well, that and the dominatrix outfit...
WinterPsionic 02-23-07, 01:21 PM	The ability to take this class at level 3 seems a tad much, based on the advancement of the mind blade the requirements should be MUCH higher. Also the ability to change the weapons between attacks seems a tad broken(escpicially in the manner you described considering the level at which they could attempt it). I like the flavor however the progression in light of the Soulknife and the other Soulknife based classes it a tad unbalaned. If you wanted to say he specialized in the ability to freely shape and alter his mindblades then negate the level bonus for Morphic Bladewind levels to stack with Soulknife levels to reflect this. Otherwise I'd suggest stretching it out to 10 levels. Just me :twocents:
DogBackward 02-23-07, 01:39 PM	You don't get the Shape Mindblade ability until your 5th level of Soulknife, so you can't take this PrC until level 6, not 3. Also, I believe Knockback is a +3 ability, so you can't get it until level 12, and you can't apply a +3 bonus equivalent until level 14 anyway. Not to mention that you'd have to spend a feat on the Whip proficiency, and that makes the third attack useless against anybody with armor of +1 or NA of +3 or better. So, that tactic is not all that powerful, I think, considering the stuff that can be done with other classes at that level. Another thing is that it doesn't increase damage save by a die size, maybe two if you spend a EW Proficiency feat. The PrC doesn't stack with all Soulknife abilities, only the enhancement bonuses. I haven't had the chance to playtest it yet, but I don't see any truly overpowering things you can do with it. I think I'm gonna leave it as is, unless somebody comes up with something truly game-breaking with it.
WinterPsionic 02-23-07, 01:53 PM	You don't get the Shape Mindblade ability until your 5th level of Soulknife, so you can't take this PrC until level 6, not 3. :blush: Sorry missed the shape prereq....I need Coffee... Also, I believe Knockback is a +3 ability, so you can't get it until level 12, and you can't apply a +3 bonus equivalent until level 14 anyway. Hmmm True enough, I'm just to used to the house rules allowing all enhancements(with alignment restrictions of course), been used in all 4 groups I've been an SK in. Not to mention that you'd have to spend a feat on the Whip proficiency What's to say the line about them being proficient with their own mindblades wouldn't apply to a whip shaped mind blade? and on that point why not go with a Whip-Dagger(which if memory serves doesn't have that restriction)? and that makes the third attack useless against anybody with armor of +1 or NA of +3 or better. See above Another thing is that it doesn't increase damage save by a die size, maybe two if you spend a EW Proficiency feat. The PrC doesn't stack with all Soulknife abilities, only the enhancement bonuses. Based on the wording of your Improved Mindblade one could interpret it differently... I haven't had the chance to playtest it yet, but I don't see any truly overpowering things you can do with it. I think I'm gonna leave it as is, unless somebody comes up with something truly game-breaking with it. It may not be "game-breaking" but it is rather "flavor-breaking" though most don't seem to care about that. Anyway like I said just my :twocents: disregard them entirely if you want.
DogBackward 02-23-07, 02:10 PM	Not at all, discussion is always good. Especially since, as you pointed out, the Improved Mindblade could be interpreted that way. It's meant to apply only to the enhancement bonus, and the +X equivalent enhancement abilities. The Greater Shape Mindblade only lets you shape it into weapons with which you are already proficient. You wouldn't be able to shape it into a whip until you are proficient with a whip, and you wouldn't be proficient with your Mindblade whip until you shaped it into a whip. Catch 22 there, unless you take the appropraite feat. Whip dagger is a supplemental item from A&EG, and a 3.0 supplement, at that. The use of the whip dagger is up to the DM, and shouldn't be calculated into the PrC as is. Besides, it's still not all that big a deal, from what I've seen. Finally, and I think most importantly, how exactly would this be "flavor-breaking". The entire flavor of the Soulknife is that you shape a weapon out of pure energy. Energy is not a rigid bit of matter, so I feel the flavor of a morphic Mindblade fits the flavor perfectly.
WinterPsionic 02-23-07, 02:25 PM	Finally, and I think most importantly, how exactly would this be "flavor-breaking". The entire flavor of the Soulknife is that you shape a weapon out of pure energy. Energy is not a rigid bit of matter, so I feel the flavor of a morphic Mindblade fits the flavor perfectly. Ok I should have clairified, it's more about the flavor of the progression rate then the actual inter-class flavor, the Morphic Blademind is giving up relatively little to gain a truly supernatural growth rate with the understanding of "mind-matter", while I may be alone in my opinions for the rate of growth this class is advertising I would think the base character would need a slightly stronger understanding/considerably more expereince with shaping and using said matter before he could come to fully realize the potential. There was a class, I believe it was in Complete Arcane(or maybe it was Mage), that required an increasing level of prereqs to continue advancing in the class(so IOW you couldn't neccessarily level straight through), that may be an appropriate system for this class and is actually a system I found to be a rather impressive idea for several other classes, both published and homebrewed.
Bauglir 02-25-07, 09:07 PM	The class says that Soulknives are proficient with their own mind blades, and they aren't proficient with ordinary longswords, short swords, or bastard swords. Ergo, if you can shape your mindblade into it, you are proficient with that mind blade. Any sane DM would rule that this doesn't apply to Exotic Weapons for this prestige class, though, since the bastard sword shape suggests it and it can get overpowered (I automatically have weapon proficiency and weapon focus and greater weapon focus with everything! hah!). Also, I'd suggest just saying that the special abilities for improved enhancement "must be of an effective enhancement bonus that you could ordinarily add to your weapon with the Mind Blade Enhancement class feature." And maybe throw in a Psychic Strike die of damage somewhere, shifting all the abilities below it down a level (so that you get improved mind blade and improved shape mind blade at level 1, which is kinda a dead level).
DogBackward 02-25-07, 11:32 PM	OK, as a Soulknife, you are proficient with ONLY the following: Simple weapons, minblade. This is barring any feats or multi-classing. The Soulknife class, by its nature, allows you to turn your mindblade into a short sword, and later into a longsword or bastard sword, and then you gain proficiency with them. This PrC allows you to change your mindblade ONLY into what you are already proficient with. At the moment, that is simple weapons, a short sword, a longsword, or a bastard sword, and nothing else. As I said, it's a Catch 22 until you get the actual proficiency through some other means. Which, only then, allows you to change your minblade into that weapon. As for the "dead level", such things are generally used to help balance a class. Especially one that continues the progression of another class, such as this one. And Psychic Strike doesn't fit the theme at all. This class is about advancing the utility and versatility of the mindblade, not the psychic powers of the soulknife.
Bauglir 02-26-07, 10:58 AM	Ah, my bad. I missed that. In that case, it's fine. Though you still aren't actually proficient with normal short swords, longswords or bastard swords.
MaverickWolf 02-26-07, 12:22 PM	First, I'd like to note that skills requirements are based on ranks, not on total bonuses. Otherwise, you can get into classes without ever actually having ranks in a skill. Second, part of me really thinks this should be a five-level prestige class, or a ten-level with more abilities. Thirdly, your abilities need to be better detailed. The phrasing on a lot of them is ambiguous at best. If you drop it to a five-level prestige class, ditch the Material Mindblade. There's an enchantment in the Underdark book for that, and with Improved Enchantment, they can just take that.
Uchiha_Arthas 03-02-07, 04:25 PM	Generally a good class and I am thinking about using it for a char I am planning to make this weekend but I would advise changing a few things: 1) Make it five levels max. 2) Why is the Hitpoint progression like a cleric's? The SoulKnife normally has a fighter's Hitpoints and I dont really see any power boost to justify the Hitpoint loss. 3) The Improved Mindblade feat at lvl 1 seems a bit gimped to me, there should be something else there keeping it company. Perhaps a later level's feat could be moved there (Plus shorten the overall number of levels). 4) The Material Mind blade ability quite frankly is a bit weak, as Maverick Wolf stated, it is available as an enchancement (with Improved Enchancement) and considering that you have to be level 6 to get this PrC, a char would already have a +1 mindblade as default and get +2 at lvl 8 of the SoulKnife class. This makes most Materials worthless. 5) I'd also consider putting in one weapon proficency feat somewhere in there. It would have to be a melee weapon and probably a weapon that the character has seen before but this would allow the player to get that one weapon they have to have. My Suggested Improvements and What I'll run by my DM on Monday: I have Italicsised what I changed from yours. Morphic Blademind Prerequisites BAB +3 Skills Concentration +4 Autohypnosis +4 Knowledge (Psionics +4) Other Ability to create a mindblade Shape Mindblade class feature Class Attributes HD d10 BAB as SoulKnife Saves Reflex, Will (Suggest as SoulKnife instead) Skills 4+Int Class As Soulknife Prof. None Class Features Lvl Special 1 Improved Mindblade, Improved Shape Mindblade 2 Swift Shape Mindblade, 3 Improved Enhancement 4 Instant Shape Mindblade, (Single) Weapon Proficency 5 Greater Shape Mindblade (Single) Weapon Proficency: You can pick any single Melee weapon out of any weapon group (Simple, Martial, Exotic etc) and become proficent in it. (If this is overpowered, it could be changed so that this proficency is only with the mindBlade version of that weapon). I am thinking of putting in another (Single) Weapon Proficency in at Lvl two but I am not sure if that would be overpowering the PrCor not.
lonewolf147 04-04-07, 09:36 AM	Has anyone had a chance to playtest this yet? I've been trying to find some alternate PrC for one of my PC's and this one sounds just about right. Reading through the topic I would agree that changing it to a 5 level PrC is much more efficient for the abilities/powers gained. So I'm wondering how it's working for people before bringing it into my game.
BobtheMoose 04-08-07, 01:05 PM	1 lvl in artificer: +1,000 XP 2 bunny feet(+rest of bunny): 1sp figuring out the amount of bludgeoning damage done by the crushing weight of your now colossal mind dagger: priceless there are some things that GP can't buy; for everything else, there's powergaming for more information, see weapon augmentation, personal(ECS, p.117)&Sizing weapon enhancement(MIC, p.43)