Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ZhonLord Aug 25, 2011 23:25:44	I’ve been working on this build for a while now, and while it looks effective I don’t have much experience in playing Mage Slayer builds so I’d appreciate any and all feedback on the build, suggestions for alternate feats, gear, etc. Alright, down to business.  In this campaign, we are starting around lvl 5-7, so most of this won’t be needed for quite some time, but I like to plan well in advance – especially for classes like the Soulknife where every single level, feat, stat, and skill point count.   Notes: -I have yet to roll stats for this character – that’s going to be done where the DM can watch, a couple of my group members have a tendency tilt the dice when rolling alone – but with this particular build stat-reliant feats are scarce at the moment so it doesn’t affect things too much. -Flaws are strictly prohibited by my DM. -Vile Darkness and Exalted Deeds are also forbidden, and anything out of Savage Species requires DM approval first. The goal is to create a Soulknife that can get past the enemy front lines and do two things: 1 – Get within throwing range and launch the mind blade (in the form of a Large-sized Bastard Sword and with the Lucky enhancement at the very least, depending on level) at the enemy mage(s), dealing the base 2d8 + strength + enhancement, + Xd8 Psychic Strike damage and/or +X Knife to the Soul stat damage, + 2d6 from the Psionic Weapon feat, and on top of that – after hitting lvl10 anyway – automatically disregard and dispel any/all magical AC bonuses the mage may have.    2 – Move in close afterward and finish the mage off, either through 2-handed melee or by throwing the mind blade again without the Psionic Weapon bonus (although possibly with Psychic Strike, depending on whether the mage runs or stands his ground and allows me to use my move action to recharge that instead).  At the same time, make sure the mage doesn’t get away unless it’s to get so far away that he/she can no longer influence the battle and protect his/her comrades. After the mage has been dealt with, turn and fight the rest as normal. Race:  Dwarf for innate magic/poison resistance and stability, with the Air racial variant for the Breathless trait (so nice to be able to ignore airborne poisons and such, and the Save weakness against Earth is nullified by dwarf resistances so there’s really no drawback with this variant). Traits:  Suspicious (more as character flavor than anything).  Debating on Quick, Plucky, Hardy, Detached, or no second trait at all. Level progression: Soulknife 1: Improved Initiative Soulknife 2 Soulknife 3: Psionic Weapon Soulknife 4 Soulknife 5 Fighter 1: Monkey Grip, Mage Slayer bonus feat Soulknife 6 Soulknife 7 Soulknife 8: Pierce Magical Protection Soulknife 9 Soulknife 10 Soulknife 11: Blind-Fight Soulknife 12 Soulknife 13 Soulknife 14: Pierce Magical Concealment Soulknife 15 Soulknife 16 Soulknife 17: Sense Weakness Soulknife 18 Soulknife 19 Skill priorities:  Tumble, Autohypnosis, Concentration, Hide, and Move Silently. Magic Gear (probably won’t be able to get all of this with our level’s starting gold, but these are items I’m absolutely planning to get one way or another):  - +1 Blurring (MIC 9) Breastplate, for a less expensive version that still grants Blur when it’s needed most. - Least Restful Crystal (MIC 26), to sleep in medium armor without penalty. - Anklet of Teleportation (MIC 71), to get past the enemy front lines and/or chase after a fleeing opponent. - Belt of One Mighty Blow (MIC 74), for extra damage on a 2h melee attack. - Magic Bedroll (MIC 163) - Everlasting Rations (MIC 160) - Everfull Mug (MIC 160) - Periapt of Health +2 Potential gear (either to replace something above or as possible extras to get hold of if we get more loot than expected): - Armband of Elusive Action (MIC 72), to avoid AoO while chasing down mages. - Dragon Mask (MIC 94) or Corsair’s Eyepatch (MIC 90) for See Invisibility. - Least or Lesser Armor Crystal to use during the day. - Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker (MIC 86) in place of the Periapt - Vanisher Cloak (MIC 145) And yes, I realize that all but one item on these lists are out of the Magic Item Compendium, and all of this gear is focused for our starting levels without any late-game.  If there are any suggestions for useful gear from other books and/or for later levels, please don’t hesitate to mention them. Anyway, there’s the setup.  Please comment on any/all aspects of the build and let me know what you think.
#2 Maat_Mons Aug 25, 2011 23:50:31	To get better formatting, highlight the list-type stuff and click the list button. Remember that throwing a two-handed weapon is a full-round action. Also, remember that you have to materialize your mind blade as a short sword, then use a full round action to change it into another weapon. Since you have to rematerialize your mind blade after every time you throw it, it's really not practical to throw it as anything but a shortsword. I don't know of any way to shape a mind blade into a greatsword. Monkey grip gives you a worse damage boost for the attack penalty than power attack. I think you'd be better off going into soulbow (Complete Psionic) and kensai (Complete Warrior) than staying with soulknife.
#3 ZhonLord Aug 26, 2011 9:15:53	Fixed the format, thanks. Remember that throwing a two-handed weapon is a full-round action. Also, remember that you have to materialize your mind blade as a short sword, then use a full round action to change it into another weapon. Since you have to rematerialize your mind blade after every time you throw it, it's really not practical to throw it as anything but a shortsword. I don't know of any way to shape a mind blade into a greatsword. Monkey grip gives you a worse damage boost for the attack penalty than power attack. I think you'd be better off going into soulbow (Complete Psionic) and kensai (Complete Warrior) than staying with soulknife. 1.  Actually, that's not the case with the Soulknife, at least in my campaign.  Because Throw Mind Blade is a class ability, my DM and I agreed that even throwing the bastard sword form is a standard action. 2.  Really?  Every game I've seen a soulknife in, that rule was always interpreted as "the mind blade retains your chosen form even if it vanishes".  The only time it needed to be reshaped was if someone broke it in some way, such as Sunder.  I'm going to have to look into that, thanks for the heads-up. 3.  I don't need to shape it into a greatsword.  The 2d8 is from a Large bastard sword, which has a Medium-sized damage of 1d10 (PHB 114).  Damage range of 2-16 is much better than 1-10, especially since it averages a roll of 9 per swing. 4.  I chose Monkey Grip over Power Attack because the latter only affects melee rolls and not the throws, but that is a good point - especially since I'm 2-handing the majority of the time.  I'll look things over a bit. 5.  Soulbow's an interesting idea, but I did want this to be a melee-oriented character.  The thrown blade was more for the first "must-hit attack" to tear apart the mage's magical AC bonuses and do some serious damage in the process.  The kensai looks great, definitely, but I don't really see how it would make my character a better mage slayer - especially since (from the way I read it anyway) the Kensai enhancement seems a little useless since there's already the Mind Blade enhancement and it's very unlikely the two class enhancements stack.  Any chance you could elaborate on why the kensai would be a good choice?
#4 awaken_D_M_golem Aug 26, 2011 14:48:58	1.  Actually, that's not the case with the Soulknife, at least in my campaign.  Because Throw Mind Blade is a class ability, my DM and I agreed that even throwing the bastard sword form is a standard action. 2.  Really?  Every game I've seen a soulknife in, that rule was always interpreted as "the mind blade retains your chosen form even if it vanishes".  The only time it needed to be reshaped was if someone broke it in some way, such as Sunder.  I'm going to have to look into that, thanks for the heads-up. That's the thing ... everybody has a different Home Game going on. CO tries (tried) to deal with the rules as written, and you can homegame off of that. MM has the right answer ; But !! you can still use these houserules. It ain't gamebreaking. Both of the old Soulknife guides are still linked on the old psi board. If you really want to go Melee Frontliner, you might wanna check out the Psy War Soulknifey thing in the Mind's Eye expansion, called Soulbound Weapon: www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20... You get to be a Soulknife, but you get to be a PsyWar and that is better .
#5 Tempest_Stormwind Aug 26, 2011 17:10:05	You'd also best re-read Monkey Grip and Mind Blade. Monkey Grip does not let you wield two-handed weapons in one hand, and Mind Blade will always produce a mind blade appropriately sized for you (so if you're Medium, you'll always get Medium weapons, even if you have Monkey Grip or Powerful Build).  Usually you're better doing semi-soulknife instead of soulknife proper, such as with Soulbound Weapon, the Kensai PrC, or similar. (Note: Yes, the Kensai won't stack with your enhancement bonus, but the special abilities all will, and your psionic abilities synergize wonderfully with Power Surge, which is one of the few non-linearly-scaling abilities available to warriors.) There's also the Dreamscarred Press soulknife variant, which solves most of these problems (more flexibility in what you assign your blade, greater emphasis on the skirmisher role, and actual access to prestige classes). It served as the basis for the soulknife when Dreamscarred did the "official" psionics rules for Pathfinder. However, it isn't actually WotC (even though it is published), so you will have to check with your DM as always.
#6 ZhonLord Aug 26, 2011 19:38:48	You'd also best re-read Monkey Grip and Mind Blade. Monkey Grip does not let you wield two-handed weapons in one hand, and Mind Blade will always produce a mind blade appropriately sized for you (so if you're Medium, you'll always get Medium weapons, even if you have Monkey Grip or Powerful Build). .......Bah, totally misread that part.  Okay, different feat. Usually you're better doing semi-soulknife instead of soulknife proper, such as with Soulbound Weapon, the Kensai PrC, or similar. (Note: Yes, the Kensai won't stack with your enhancement bonus, but the special abilities all will, and your psionic abilities synergize wonderfully with Power Surge, which is one of the few non-linearly-scaling abilities available to warriors.) Ah, that's a good point.  And since most of those are concentration-based that makes it even more effective since I'll be buffing that skill for psionic focus.  Alright, I'll rework the level progression a bit to include some levels of Kensai.  This will even help character-wise, as his Oath of Service can be to slay any mages who corrupt the use their extraordinary power, whether the mages themselves be good or evil (ones who work with raiders, ones who use it to take advantage of others, etc). Thanks for the help.