Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 thecolourplaid Aug 23, 2012 22:11:57	Hello all, A group of friends and I have been playing D&D for several months now, and made our way through a couple of campaigns with the very basic classes and races. As we've progressed we've branched out into more of each, and in our current campaign, I am a level 4 Elan Soulknife. I'm not sure about some things with the power points though. I know for certain that I have 4 power points (between the Wild Talent and Naturally Psionic feats). However, I am confused on how the key abilities part works. I know normally the key ability is whichever ability is being used for the action you are performing (ie STR for Jump checks and INT for Search checks), but I don't know how it applies to a character overall. I know some of the other classes say what their key ability is, but the soulknife does not. My ability score modifiers are: STR - +3 DEX - +1 CON - +3 INT - +2 WIS - +1 CHA - -1  Any help would be muchly appreciated, as I get the feeling I do not understand power points at all and do not want to continue to play just hoping I'm using them right.
#2 salla Aug 23, 2012 23:55:07	I'm not sure I understand the question at all. The key ability for a skill is a modifier that you use whenever you use that skill.  It has nothing whatsoever to do with your power points. If you're asking what ability increases your number of power points, I don't believe the Soulknife has one, as it's not a manifesting class.
#3 Fireclave Aug 24, 2012 0:16:05	Soulknives don't really have a specific key ability score.  They don't cast spells or manifest powers, so they have no primary casting stat.  And none of their abilities are dependant on any particular stat, such as the Monk's Stunning Fist. However, being a melee skirmisher, they do have the standard considerations to keep in mind.  Strength and Dexterity tend to be important for a Soulknife.  Strength adds to attack and damage rolls with weapons, such as your mind blade.  In addition, soulknives are only proficient with light armor, so they'll usually want to keep their dexterity high to increase their AC.  Con is a good third stat, as everyone likes bonus hit points. As far as power points go, they are mostly a non issue for you.  The soulknife class itself does not gain or use power points, and none of its class abilities require you to spend power points.  You can't even gain bonus power points from having a high stat since, again, you have no manifesting ability in the first place.  However, having the small pool of power points provided by the Wild Talent feat does allow you to qualify for Psionic feats.  Also, as long as you have at least 1 power point, you can also gain Psionic Focus.  Several Psionic Feats requires you to either have psionic focus or spend it as part of using the feat. Also, you can still use your power points to power your Elan racial abilities.  But you won't get nearly as much mileage out of them as a psion or psychic warrior would.  Just be sure to keep at least one power point around so you can gain psionic focus to use feats like Speed of Thought (which soulknives get at level 6).