Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 RPGBG Feb 09, 2015 1:25:17	Hello, everyone. I getting ready for a gestalt game with a bit unusual character creation rules or to be more precise:   40 point buy Gestalt Fractional BAB and Saves   Races: PHB Races, Hobgoblin, Drow, Winged Elves, Half-Giant (EPH). No LA for any of them. Templates: Half-vampire (LM) - again no LA, but applicable only to the PHB Races.   Classes: Classes: PHB classes except Clerics, Paladins, and Wizards. UA variants, Knight, Duskblade, Soulknife and Psion.   At the moment the party consists of: Hobgoblin Druid I Ranger Half-giant Fighter I Barbarian Drow Duskblade I Sorcerer   I have always been a sucker for the Soulknife flavor, but the mechanics obviously is lacking. Is there any way under the current rules to make it not fall behind too much from the rest of the party. None of them is overly well optimised, but well... full BAB druid don't need a lot to overshadow a melee class. None of the rest has opted for the Winged Elves so I would like to stay away from easy flight as well (feels like cheating).   I was thinking about a Half-giant Fighter I Monk/Soulknife with practiced mindblade, flowing blade and Tashalatora (monastic training requirement removed) - but I need some way to add mobility to the build in order to be able to deliver those full attacks and barbarian for pounce does not work with monk.   Something along the lines of Fighter 6/Exotic Weapon Master 3/Warmind 6 I Monk 6/Soulknife 7 and then continue with more Soulknife and Warmind levels. Warmind will also give me access to hustle. Reshape Mindblade can get me a glaive mindblade so I can do some tripping with it (exotic weapon master, warmind and half-giant give bonuses to that). Does that sound like a plan and can someone give me an advice or overall viability estimation of the build? Also - is Psychic strike worth it or I should take the Feat Soulknife variant? Hustle will help me recharge it when I don't move, but 3 power points for 2-3 d8 is a bit meh...
#2 Tempest_Stormwind Feb 09, 2015 14:27:41	With gestalt, you might be able to get something functional, but not something up to duskblade//sorcerer levels, let alone druid//ranger.   I'd suggest instead using Soulbound Weapon on a psywar, and use something else Wis-focused and martial for the other side (swordsage would be my preference). Far simpler and undoubtedly more effective with very similar feel.   If your DM is cool with houserules (he seems to be, if he allows races and templates with no LA), I'd suggest using something like my monk mobility rules. Incidentally, one of the playtest characters for that was a soulknife/monk using flowing blade and tashalatora.
#3 Slagger_the_Chuul Feb 09, 2015 20:36:19	RPGBG wrote:
#4 Tempest_Stormwind Feb 09, 2015 21:31:40	Slagger_the_Chuul wrote:
#5 Slagger_the_Chuul Feb 09, 2015 22:12:27	Well, as you may remember, ki flow was an alternative development of your own combat lunge ability, which I hitched onto potential attacks of opportunity, rather than having it directly attached to the monk's unarmed strike.  One of the most significant consequences of that change is that it became as much of a defensive ability as an offensive one, since the reactive movement can be used to avoid a whole range of attacks, especially as the movement and range increases at higher levels and in areas with plenty of cover. There's a silly exploitation I found with two dueling monks having an infinite running battle of constantly triggering ki flow responses for each other, but it's easily countered by ruling all ki flow as being part of a single movement for that purpose.  That loophole aside, there's the nice effect of monks being able to counter-maneuver when they do battle (with higher-level monks having a natural advantage due to their improved range).   On-Topic: Do you remember any particularly good soulknife fixes?
#6 Andarious-Rosethorn Feb 10, 2015 3:08:09	I saw a great article at one point that broke most of soulknife down into Psionic feats. The intent was to make it a package for Psychic Warrior to pick up. Overall it looked pretty reasonable as a build option for PW. I believe this is the relevant information (kinda pressed for time so not able to do a complete re-reread right now).
#7 Pheonix042 Feb 10, 2015 9:24:37	I'll put in a voice in favor of the Spirit Monk linked above: I used it for one of my games, and I was really happy with the results. He stomped a few encounters, remained useful in others, and generally helped his team accomplish their goals without getting in the way or presenting an unreasonable challenge for me as DM in any way. The player had a lot of fun, but the character was very manageable. We only played for a few levels, but within that scope it behaved exactly as intended.