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Demons_eye
2009-05-25, 08:47 PM
I was reading MoI and I didnt get the class. I dont know if the wording was wack for me or what but I dont think I got it, let me see if I got this right?

They can cast any soulmeld at any time but can only have as many out at a time limited to con or level?

Like I said I dont get them but they sound so cool! Some one help me understand?

Goatman_Ted
2009-05-25, 09:09 PM
Here's the simplest and most complete way I can go over this noise:

Like a Wizard, after 8 hours of rest you can prepare a certain number of Soulmelds for the day. The number is the one on the Incarnate chart or your Constitution score-10, whichever is lower. You can usually only choose one Soulmeld per equipment slot.

When you prepare soulmelds, you can choose to 'bind' the ones you have in your equipment slots for extra benefits (found in their soulmeld entries). Access to these slots can come from feats, class levels or spells.

Once the Soulmelds are prepared, you gain their basic benefits and 'binding' benefits all day.

And until you next prepare your chakras, you have a certain number of Essentia that can be allocated to the different Soulmelds. Essentia can come from race, class and feats.
Redistributing them is a Swift Action.
Once they're assigned to a slot, they give appropriate benefits until you move them.

If you invest Essentia in feats (the 'Cerulean X,' 'Midnight Y'-types), that Essentia cannot be redistributed until you prepare your Soulmelds the next day. It's effectively removed from your essentia pool.

Each Soulmeld can only hold a certain amount of Essentia at a time. The limit is at the beginning of one of the chapters... I don't remember which. There are class abilities and feats you can use to put more Essentia into your Soulmelds and feats.

...I think that's it.

And in case you were wondering, yes the system is that clunky.

Sinfire Titan
2009-05-25, 09:24 PM
You left out Chakra slots. Here's a slightly more detailed description.


To explain the entire system is a tad long-winded and complicated. I'm just going to explain the basics of Incarnum, the rest you just need to read yourself.

Each Soulmeld acts like a "larval" form of a magic item. The character's meldshaper level is the caster level of the Soulmeld for all purposes and intents (such as suppressing them via Dispel Magic), and Soulmelds react to spells the same way magic items do (the exception is Sundering or damaging them, Soulmelds have no HP and no Hardness, and are effectively impossible to break through Sundering or similar abilities).

Essenita is like the enhancement bonus you normally put on armor and weapons. Only every soulmeld grants something different for investing essentia into it. The meldshaper has an essentia pool (which is the total amount of essentia he has, including what's been invested in the soulmelds/items) and can use a swift action to "move" essentia between his pool and any number of his soulmelds or class features (he can't do this with feats, save for the Cobalt Rage feat, but that requires a prestige class to do). He has a limit to how much essentia he can invest in a single soulmeld. Typically, it's his Character level divided by 4, but some effects can improve this value (a feat, a magic item, and two class features).

The maximum essentia capacity a standard 20th level Incarnate or Totemist character can have is 8 (Totemists can exceed this value, but only temporarily). The meldshaper doesn't need to meet the maximum capacity in order to invest in a soulmeld (he can have as little in each soulmeld as he chooses, so long as he doesn't exceed the capacity).


Chakra binds are where the system gets a little tricky. Normally, shaping a soulmeld makes it hover above the corresponding magic item slot (the Bluesteel Bracers, for example, occupy the same slot that bracers of Armor do). While a soulmeld is not bound to a Chakra, the body slot is considered open. As long as it is open, you can gain the benefits of every soulmeld or magic item that occupies that slot without penalty (but you don't get the benefits for binding the soulmelds to that chakra).

Upon binding a soulmeld to a chakra, the meldshaper effectively closes that body slot for the next 24 hours. No other soulmeld or magic item may occupy that body slot unless the item says ignores the Chakra bind restriction or the meldshaper has the Split Chakra/Double Chakra feat. This is akin to donning a magic item (you can't gain the benefit of a Monk's Belt and a Belt of Giant Strength without a special item or feat being involved).

There's a limit to Chakra binds, however: No individual soulmeld may be bound to more than one chakra at a time. One class feature allows you to bypass this restriction, but even that is restricted in use.

There are 11 chakra slots. Crown, feet, hands, arms, brow, shoulders, throat, waist, heart, totem, and soul. Meldshapers gain access to new chakra slots as they gain levels. The most powerful slots (arguably) are the Heart, Soul, and Totem slots.

Each chakra slot corresponds to a magic item body slot (except the Totem):
Crown: Head or Helm
Feet: Boots
Hands: Gloves, or gauntlets
Arms: Bracers
Brow: Eye
Shoulders: Cloaks, capes
Throat: Necklaces, amulets
Waist: Belts, greaves
Heart: Vests
Soul: Armor

The totem is an exception: it has no corresponding magic item slot. It can be anywhere you want it to be, but the soulmeld bound to it must be shaped on another chakra slot (binding a soulmeld to your Totem chakra does not cut off access to any other body slot).


That's MoI in a nutshell. Search for my Incarnum Handbook if you have any further questions.

Sinfire Titan
2009-05-25, 09:28 PM
Here's the simplest and most complete way I can go over this noise:

Like a Wizard, after 8 hours of rest you can prepare a certain number of Soulmelds for the day. The number is the one on the Incarnate chart or your Constitution score-10, whichever is lower. You can usually only choose one Soulmeld per equipment slot.

When you prepare soulmelds, you can choose to 'bind' the ones you have in your equipment slots for extra benefits (found in their soulmeld entries). Access to these slots can come from feats, class levels or spells.

Quick clarification though: If the Soulmeld is not bound to a chakra, you can have more than one on that body slot. You just can't do it when there's a magic item or bound soulmeld on that slot.



Once the Soulmelds are prepared, you gain their basic benefits and 'binding' benefits all day.

Also, soulmelds stay shaped until you choose to unshape them (or are forced to). Meaning you never have to reshape the soulmelds every day if you don't want to.


And in case you were wondering, yes the system is that clunky.

It, like the Bo9S, is worth learning if you want to play a decent melee character without hyper-specializing in something that can be easily shut down. Totemists and Incarnates are very versatile if you build them right, and they can do something different each day.

The Soulborn just sucks though. Avoid it like the plague.