Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Enchanter_Tom 07-09-07, 04:06 AM	Yes, yes, we already have many, many soulknife fixes. However, I'd like to contribute my own to the mix simply because I hate poorly-done classes (I'm looking at you, shadowdancer). Although I realize that my design probably appears to steal a bit from other fixes, I actually came upon this idea while trying to think of a way to make the monk less crummy, and so any coincidental likeness to other posters' work is just that: coincidence. Allow me to note that I do believe that breaking the soulknife class into a feat chain is a superior solution. However, I believe that the soulknife--and the work that went into creating it--is wholly salvageable with a few modifications to the class. My idea for the modifications is that a soulknife is a fighter who devotes the entirety of himself into his mind blade. That is his weapon; he is a master of using it. I realize that there are a few levels that are like, "Wow, that's a lot of class features packed into one level," but I justify this with two reasons. 1. That was the progression of the features--one every fourth level, another every second, etc.--and I hate to disrupt patterns. I find it most unappealing. (**** retentive much? Yes, absolutely, and the word censored starts with an "a" and ends with a "nal.") 2. The soulknife is a class designed to be taken for twenty levels. Because the mind blade features are so integral to the class, it is difficult to justify not continuing as a soulknife. I just hope that I, in my zeal to "make things right" for the soulknife, have not overpowered him. (Though, whenever I do such a thing, I look to the cleric, druid, and wizard for solace, and I find it. No time stop, shapechange, or gate means "not as broken.") So, without further ado, I present to you: Soulknife 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), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), 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 Souknife Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special 1st +1 +0 +2 +2 Mind Blade, Weapon Focus (mind blade), Wild Talent 2nd +2 +0 +3 +3 +1 mind blade, throw mind blade 3rd +3 +1 +3 +3 Psychic strike +1d8 4th +4 +1 +4 +4 Bonus feat, mind blade enhancement +1, Weapon Specialization (mind blade) 5th +5 +1 +4 +4 Free draw, shape mind blade, Speed of Thought 6th +6/+1 +2 +5 +5 +2 mind blade, psychic strike +2d8 7th +7/+2 +2 +5 +5 Shift enhancement 8th +8/+3 +2 +6 +6 Bonus feat, Greater Weapon Focus (mind blade), mind blade enhancement +2 9th +9/+4 +3 +6 +6 Bladewind, Improved Critical (mind blade), psychic strike +3d8 10th +10/+5 +3 +7 +7 +3 mind blade, quick shaping (standard) 11th +11/+6/+1 +3 +7 +7 Improved Speed of Thought 12th +12/+7/+2 +4 +8 +8 Bonus feat, Greater Weapon Specialization (mind blade), mind blade enhancement +3, psychic strike +4d8 13th +13/+8/+3 +4 +8 +8 Knife to the soul 14th +14/+9/+4 +4 +9 +9 +4 mind blade 15th +15/+10/+5 +5 +9 +9 Psychic strike +5d8, quick shaping (move) 16th +16/+11/+6/+1 +5 +10 +10 Bonus feat, mind blade enhancement +4 17th +17/+12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +10 Greater Speed of Thought 18th +18/+13/+8/+3 +6 +11 +11 +5 mind blade, psychic strike +6d8 19th +19/+14/+9/+4 +6 +11 +11 Quick shaping (swift) 20th +20/+15/+10/+5 +6 +12 +12 Bonus feat, mind blade enhancement +5 Class Features Weapon and Armor Proficiency Soulknives are proficient with all simple weapons, with their own mind blades, and with light armor and shields (except tower shields). Mind Blade (Su) As a move action, a soulknife can create a semisolid blade composed of psychic energy distilled from his own mind. The blade is identical in all ways (except visually) to a short sword of a size appropriate for its wielder. For instance, a Medium soulknife materializes a Medium mind blade that he can wield as a light weapon, and the blade deals 1d6 points of damage (crit 19-20/×2). Soulknives who are smaller or larger than Medium create mind blades identical to short swords appropriate for their size, with a corresponding change to the blade’s damage. The wielder of a mind blade gains the usual benefits to his attack roll and damage roll from a high Strength bonus. The blade can be broken (it has hardness 10 and 10 hit points); however, a soulknife can simply create another on his next move action. The moment he relinquishes his grip on his blade, it dissipates (unless he intends to throw it; see below). A mind blade is considered a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. 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 Improved Critical. 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 2nd 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). 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 by making a DC 20 Will save. On a successful save, the soulknife maintains his mind blade for a number of rounds equal to his class level before he needs to check again. On an unsuccessful attempt, the mind blade vanishes. As a move action on his turn, the soulknife can attempt a new Will save to rematerialize his mind blade while he remains within the psionics negating effect. Weapon Focus (Mind Blade) A soulknife gains Weapon Focus (mind blade) as a bonus feat. Wild Talent A soulknife gains Wild Talent as a bonus feat. (This class feature provides the character with the psionic power he needs to materialize his mind blade, if he has no power points otherwise.) The power point granted by Wild Talent is not required for the soulknife to manifest his mind blade, however. Throw Mind Blade (Ex) A soul knife of 2nd level or higher can throw his mind blade as a ranged weapon with a range increment of 30 feet. Whether or not the attack hits, a thrown mind blade then dissipates. A soulknife of 3rd level or higher can make a psychic strike (see below) with a thrown mind blade and can use the blade in conjunction with other special abilities (such as Knife to the Soul; see below). Psychic Strike (Su) As a move action, a soulknife of 3rd level or higher can imbue his mind blade with destructive psychic energy. This effect deals an extra 1d8 points of damage to the next living, nonmindless target he successfully hits with a melee attack (or ranged attack, if he is using the throw mind blade ability). Creatures immune to mind-affecting effects are immune to psychic strike damage. (Unlike the rogue’s sneak attack, the psychic strike is not precision damage and can affect creatures otherwise immune to extra damage from critical hits or more than 30 feet away, provided they are living, nonmindless creatures not immune to mind-affecting effects.) A mind blade deals this extra damage only once when this ability is called upon, but a soulknife can imbue his mind blade with psychic energy again by taking another move action. Once a soulknife has prepared his blade for a psychic strike, it holds the extra energy until it is used. Even if the soulknife drops the mind blade (or it otherwise dissipates, such as when it is thrown and misses), it is still imbued with psychic energy when the soulknife next materializes it. At every three levels beyond 3rd (6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, and 18th), the extra damage from a soulknife’s psychic strike increases as shown on the Table above. Bonus Feats At 4th level and every four levels thereafter (8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th), a souknife gets a bonus combat-oriented feat. These bonus feats must be drawn from the feats noted as fighter bonus feats or psionic feats. The soulknife must still meet all prerequisites for the bonus feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums as well as class requirements. A soulknife cannot choose feats that specifically require levels in the fighter class unless he is a multiclass character with the requisite levels in the fighter class. These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gains every three levels. A soulknife is not limited to fighter bonus feats and psionic feats when choosing these other feats. Mind Blade Enhancement (Su) At 4th level, a soulknife gains the ability to enhance his mind blade. He can add any one of the weapon special abilities that has an enhancement bonus value of +1. This bonus must be appropriate to the soulknife's mindblade; he could not, for instance, apply the seeking property to his mindblade, as it is not a ranged weapon. At every four levels beyond 4th (8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th), the value of the enhancement a soulknife can add to his weapon improves to +2, +3, +4, and +5, respectively. A soulknife can choose any combination of weapon special abilities that does not exceed the total allowed by the soulknife’s level. 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). The ability or abilities apply to any form the mind blade takes, including the use of the shape mind blade or bladewind class abilities. A soulknife can reassign the ability or abilities he has added to his mind blade. To do so, he must first spend 8 hours in concentration. After that period, the mind blade materializes with the new ability or abilities selected by the soulknife. Weapon Specialization (Mind Blade) At 4th level, a soulknife gains Weapon Specialization (mind blade) as a bonus feat even if he does not meet the prerequisites of the feat. Free Draw (Su) At 5th level, a soulknife becomes able to materialize his mind blade as a free action instead of a move action. He can make only one attempt to materialize the mind blade per round in an area where psionics would not normally function, however. This limit does not apply when the soulknife throws his mindblade unless the soulknife is in such an area. Shape Mind Blade At 5th level, a soulknife gains the ability to change the form of his mind blade. As a fullround action, he can change his mind blade to replicate a longsword (damage 1d8 for a Medium weapon wielded as a one-handed weapon) or a bastard sword (damage 1d10 for a Medium weapon, but he must wield it as a two-handed weapon unless he knows the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) feat). If a soulknife shapes his mind blade into the form of a bastard sword and wields it two-handed, he adds 1½ times his Strength bonus to his damage rolls, just like when using any other two-handed weapon. In addition to these specified forms, a soulknife may shape his mindblade into any melee weapon with which he has a proficiency. When doing so, the mind blade takes on all characteristics of the weapon, including bonuses that may apply to tripping, disarming, or the like. Alternatively, a soulknife can split his mind blade into two identical weapons, suitable for fighting with a weapon in each hand. (The normal penalties for fighting with two weapons apply.) However, both mind blades have an enhancement bonus 1 lower than the soulknife would otherwise create with a single mind blade. A soulknife may also split his mind blade in a similar manner to form a shield. This shield grants the soulknife a +2 bonus to AC and carries no arcane spell failure chance or armor check penalty. As with splitting his mind blade to form two weapons, the enhancement bonus on both the shield and the soulknife's mind blade are reduced by 1. As shields carry different magical qualities than weapons, the soulknife must spend an additional 8 hours in meditation to choose the abilities granted by his mind blade enhancement feature to his mind shield. If the soulknife splits his mind blade without choosing the abilities, the shield is considered to have no abilities until the soulknife meditates. These abilities remain the same even if the soulknife changes the shape of his mind blade, mind shield, or both. If the soulknife has an ability on his mindblade that does not function with a form into which he shapes it, that special ability still takes up an appropriate amount of enhancement bonus. For example, if a soulknife shapes his mind blade into a light mace and bestows upon it the disruption quality and then shapes his mind blade into a longsword, the disruption quality no longer functions but still counts as a +2 bonus for purposes of determining the mind blade's maximum enhancement bonus value. Should a soulknife ever lose a level and be put below a level required for the total enhancement bonus value on a mind blade, the mind blade immediately loses either the smallest enhancement bonus value ability. If the mind blade has multiple abilities on it that would all qualify as the smallest enhancement value, the ability that was last applied to the mind blade is lost. In the case that there are multiple abilities on the mind blade that would qualify as the smallest enhancement value and the soulknife meditated to change all the abilities on his mind blade at one time, he can choose which ability to lose. When a soulknife manifests a mind blade, it appears in the last form that it was in prior to dismissal. Speed of Thought A soulknife gains Speed of Thought as a bonus feat at 5th level even if he does not meet the prerequisites of the feat. Shift Enhancement (Su) Beginnig at 7th level, a soulknife may change the enhancement bonus that his mind blade gains on attack and damage rolls into an increased number of enhancements. For every +1 on attack and damage rolls that a soulknife trades in, he gains an additional +1 to the total value of enhancements he can have on his mind blade. The mind blade must have a minimum of a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls (outside of any spells cast on it, such as metaphysical weapon), however. To use this ability, a soulknife must spend 8 hours in meditation. Greater Weapon Focus (Mind Blade) At 8th level, a soulknife gains Greater Weapon Focus (mind blade) as a bonus feat even if he does not meet the prerequisites of the feat. Bladewind (Su) At 9th level, a soulknife gains the ability to momentarily fragment his mind blade into numerous identical blades, each of which strikes at a nearby opponent. As a full attack, when wielding his mind blade, a soulknife can give up his regular attacks and instead fragment his mind blade to make one melee attack at his full base attack bonus against each opponent within reach. Each fragment functions identically to the soulknife’s regular mind blade. When using bladewind, a soulknife forfeits any bonus or extra attacks granted by other feats or abilities (such as the Cleave feat or the haste spell). The mind blade immediately reverts to its previous form after the bladewind attack. When a soulknife uses bladewind when his mind blade is charged with a psychic strike, he does one-half his psychic strike damage, rounded down, to any opponent within reach. Improved Critical (Mind Blade) At 9th level, the soulknife gains Improved Critical (mind blade) as a bonus feat. Quick Shaping At 10th level, a soulknife has begun mastering the art of shaping his mind blade. He may change its shape as a standard action instead of a fullround action. At 15th level, a soulknife may change the shape of his mind blade as a move action. At 19th level, a soulknife may change the shape of his mindblade as a swift action. Although a soulknife can lengthen the duraction of shaping of his mind blade, he may not shape his mind blade more than once per round. Improved Speed of Thought At 11th level, the insight bonus to the soulknife's speed granted by the Speed of Thought feet increases by +10 feet, to a total of +20 feet. Greater Weapon Specialization (Mind Blade) At 12th level, a soulknife gains Greater Weapon Specialization (mind blade) as a bonus feat even if he does not meet the prerequisites of the feat. Knife to the Soul (Su) Beginning at 13th level, when a soulknife executes a psychic strike, he can choose to substitute Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma damage (his choice) for extra dice of damage. For each die of extra damage he gives up, he deals 1 point of damage to the ability score he chooses. A soulknife can combine extra dice of damage and ability damage in any combination. The soulknife decides which ability score his psychic strike damages and the division of ability damage and extra dice of damage when he imbues his mind blade with the psychic strike energy. Greater Speed of Thought At 17th level, the insight bonus to the soulknife's speed granted by the Speed of Thought feet increases again by +10 feet, to a total of +30 feet.
Water_To_Fire 07-09-07, 10:45 AM	I like this a lot, and it really does seem like the soulknife as it was meant to be, Now the trick is getting my DM to let me play it ;).
Enchanter_Tom 07-09-07, 03:28 PM	I like this a lot, and it really does seem like the soulknife as it was meant to be, Now the trick is getting my DM to let me play it ;). Try this: "[DM's name], I want to contribute to combat so that I can help protect the party and further our goals and your campaign story. However, I want to play a soulknife. Unfortunately, this class can't protect anyone and it sure as hell can't do much in combat except for lame psychic strike tactics. In fact, if I play a soulknife as it is written in the XPH, I'm liable to spontaneously combust due to its crapitude, and your campaign will probably light on fire due to my screaming, running about like a chicken sans head, and general rolling all over trying to put out the flames that are consuming me while you all either gape like a bunch of slack-jawed gawkers or laugh hysterically. Therefore, I beseech you to allow me to play a soulknife fix designed by someone who enjoys the concept of the soulknife class but wanted it to survive in combat."
Enchanter_Tom 07-10-07, 09:34 AM	Bump for critiquing.
Enchanter_Tom 07-11-07, 01:00 AM	BUMP.
Legdiwena 07-11-07, 07:48 PM	I especially love being able to shape into any melee weapon we are prof. with
Enchanter_Tom 07-11-07, 08:05 PM	Well, at least that's some feedback.
Legdiwena 07-11-07, 08:09 PM	Don't have my XPH with me. How else is this different than the official one?
Mælstrøm 07-11-07, 08:38 PM	Good work all in all. One thing that made me stop though: since the +x mind blade bonus is there to cancel out the non-fighter BAB progression, you should either return to non-fighter BAB progression or do away with all mindblade bonuses. Yes, I realize that they grant damage bonus as well, but it's either or - I think leaving them in with a full progression is too much. I was rather okay with non-fighter BAB progression, since in combination with the mind blade bonuses it means he is a "full fighter" when it comes to his mind blade, but with other weaponry, he is not the uber-warrior. That makes definite sense to me. What do you think? Greetz! :)
Enchanter_Tom 07-12-07, 07:09 AM	I can't justify giving the soulknife 3/4 BAB without giving it a way to apply psychic strike damage on more than one hit--similar to the rogue/scout/ninja--and I think that knife to the soul would get broken with that. Also, having full BAB means that he gets that all-important fourth attack, which the mind blade's enhancement cannot give.
Mælstrøm 07-12-07, 10:23 AM	The "all-important" fourth attack??? How about rapid strike, cleave/great cleave and all those other nifty combat feats??? My god, the fourth attack is academic at best, since very few characters ever reach 20th level. Even the "he gets two attacks earlier" argument does not hold - because there is no reason why he SHOULD get it. Even the PsyWar doesn't get a full BAB. Why? Because he doesn't need it, and because it is overpowered! In my book, it's either or, otherwise the class gets too powerful compared to other classes. How come no one ever decided the wizard or the cleric have the wrong BAB progression?
Enchanter_Tom 07-12-07, 11:38 AM	The "all-important" fourth attack??? How about rapid strike, cleave/great cleave and all those other nifty combat feats??? My god, the fourth attack is academic at best, since very few characters ever reach 20th level. Even the "he gets two attacks earlier" argument does not hold - because there is no reason why he SHOULD get it. Even the PsyWar doesn't get a full BAB. Why? Because he doesn't need it, and because it is overpowered! In my book, it's either or, otherwise the class gets too powerful compared to other classes. How come no one ever decided the wizard or the cleric have the wrong BAB progression? Clerics do have the wrong BAB progression, especially with divine power. The psychic warrior is not overpowered, as shown by posters in this thread. Rapid Strike is for creatures with natural attacks. Cleave and great cleave are generally worthless unless one's DM sends hordes of CR 1 minions at one's party. All the soulknife gets is a free weapon and a special attack with limitations that requires a move action to activate. And, in my example, some feats and abilities. Also, there is a reason why gish builds require +16 BAB to be considered "gish."
Mælstrøm 07-12-07, 01:39 PM	Okay. I rest my case. Let's agree to disagree. I, for one, am perfectly happy with the cleric the way he is! I think the fighter progression should be reserved only for those who are supposed to be equally good with any weapon they get, as opposed to specialized characters. If you disagree, then we won't find common ground ;)
Enchanter_Tom 07-12-07, 08:04 PM	You're fine with clerics having 3/4 BAB but think the psychic warrior is broken?
Mælstrøm 07-12-07, 08:26 PM	Nope, never said that. I like the PsyWar as it is. My earlier argument concerning the PsyWar was to say that he doesn't have full BAB, and if a Warrior-type character (read: a class you could picture with a variety of weapons being used, not just one favorite weapon) doesn't have that, then a soulknife shouldn't either. That's all I meant.
ShadowChemosh 07-15-07, 09:29 AM	Nope, never said that. I like the PsyWar as it is. My earlier argument concerning the PsyWar was to say that he doesn't have full BAB, and if a Warrior-type character (read: a class you could picture with a variety of weapons being used, not just one favorite weapon) doesn't have that, then a soulknife shouldn't either. That's all I meant. Yea I am agreement here also that FULL BAB on top of all the other new abilities is way too much. You even gave this version bonus feats and weapon specialization something that is suppose to be fighter only with 4 skill points. What reason did you leave to ever player a fighter. Why not add Psi powers so their leaves no reason to play a PsyWarrior. I like your Quick Shape Mind Blade ability and turned it into a Feat that a Soulknife could take. So thanks for that nice idea, but IMHO I think you went the other extreme with the class. Later
Enchanter_Tom 07-15-07, 01:55 PM	You hit upon an important bit of truth: aside from the first two levels, there's little reason to play a fighter.