Incarnum for dummies

[The Underlord]

So I looked at incarnum and I am really confused.
1. What is a soulmeld? Is it like a spell? item?
2. How do chakras interact with them?
3. How does essentia work?
So I want to know the basics of incarnum. I am looking to build a totemist, so optimation help would be nice

[2xMachina]

1. Magic item
2. Chakra gives soulmeld more effects when it's bound there.
3. Make the effects of the soulmeld better when essentia is invested

Totemist handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2943.0)
Someone else will have to help you with details.

[Vauron]

Imagine that soulmelds are magic items that don't use any slots by default. Essentia is used to make soulmelds more powerful, so, as an example, you might put 2 essentia into a soulmeld to increase the skill boost it gives. You can move essentia around as a swift action whenever you want.

There is a chakra for each of your magic item slots, and if you bind a soulmeld to a chakra, you get another effect. For instance, if you bind the Giriallion Arms soulmeld, you gain two arms and a pair of slam attacks. A chakra with a soulmeld bound to it counts as a magic item. For instance, if you had 2 soulmelds bound to the ring slots, than you could not use a magic ring.

[BlueInc]

<= was going to make a thread just like this.

These responses are helpful, but if someone could do something even more detailed, I would be grateful.

[The Underlord]

Des binding ot your totem gain the other effects of binding(do you get both pounce and claws if shpinx claws is bound to your totem)?
Also is their a way to gain claw attacks without binding something to your totem?

[Jude_H]

Soulmelds are, in the most basic sense, abilities that an Incarnum user adopts for the day. Their base effects are constantly active (but dispellable). When you shape* a soulmeld, it occupies an item slot (or "chakra"): this does not block magic item effects from the slot, but it does block other soulmelds. Every Soulmeld lists the chakras that it can be shaped in. A meldshaper can shape a soulmeld into any relevant chakra, regardless of level or feats.

Each soulmeld can also be bound to a chakra. This typically requires class abilities, spells or feats. Binding a soulmeld to a chakra provides additional benefits, listen in the "X Bind" section of the soulmeld entry. These abilities supplement those of shaping the soulmeld, but they also occupy the magic item slot in the same way that a magic item would.

Essentia works like an unexpended PP. It exists freely in your character, providing no benefits until it is allocated to feats, spells or soulmelds (typically a swift action). Once allocated, it provides certain benefits, as outlined in Incarnum feats or soulmeld entries. It is not expended, and can typically be rearranged as another swift action.

For example, let's look at a level 1 Totemist with Lamasu Mantle and Sphinx Gloves shaped. The character has 2 soulmelds, occupying his shoulder and hand slots. Because they're shaped rather than bound, the Totemist could still benefit from a cloak of resistance, if he had one. The Totemist has 1 essentia invested in Lamasu Mantle, which provides a +1 bonus on certain saves. If the totemist wants to trip a goblin, he can reallocate the essentia to his sphinx gloves as a swift action. He still benefits from the base ability of both soulmelds, but he loses the resistance bonus that essentia investment in the Mantle provides, and gains the extra +1 bonus to strength checks that comes from essentia investment in the gloves.

There is a cap on the amount of essentia that can be invested in a soulmeld, feat or spell at a time: typically it's 1+1 for every 6 HD, but certain feats, items and class abilities can raise it higher.

*"Shaped" and "Bound" mean two different things: Shaping a soulmeld taps its main effect (usually a small numeric bonus); binding it provides a supplemental and typically larger benefit, as described in the last parts of the soulmeld entry.

Astral Vambraces (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20060217a), broken down for illustration:

Astral Vambraces
Descriptors: None
Classes: Incarnate, soulborn
Chakra: Arms or hands*
Saving Throw: None

You form vambraces from ectoplasm, and their shimmering silver color is highlighted with glints of azure blue.

Your astral vambraces infuse you with the fortitude of an astral construct, granting you damage reduction 2/magic.*

Astral vambraces are not affected by dismiss ectoplasm.

Essentia: Every point of essentia you invest in your astral vambraces increases the damage reduction by 2.*

Chakra Bind (Arms)

The ectoplasm fuses closely to your arms, encasing them in silver-blue ectoplasm.

You benefit from one special ability of your choice in the Astral Construct Menu A. You can select a different ability each time you bind the astral vambraces to your arms.*

Chakra Bind (Hands)

The vambraces extend down and cover your hands in ectoplasm.

You gain two slam attacks, which act as primary natural weapons. The slam attacks deal 1d4 points of damage if you are Small, 1d6 points of damage if you are Medium, or 1d8 points of damage if you are Large, plus your Strength bonus. If you use a weapon in one hand, you can use your other hand to deal a slam attack as a secondary natural weapon (with a -5 penalty on the attack roll and applying only half your Strength bonus on your damage roll).*
*These are the slots you can choose to shape a soulmeld into.
*This is the base effect of the soulmeld. It is accessible by merely shaping Astral Vambraces in either the Hands or Arms slot. This does not block the slots from magic items like gloves or bracelets.
*This is the effect that essentia investment has on the soulmeld. Without any invested essentia, the AVs provide DR 2/magic from their shaping effect. With 2 essentia invested, they provide DR 6/magic, &c.
*These are the effects that the soulmeld has when bound to a chakra. This blocks the associated item slot from magic glove (Hands) or bracelet (Arms) effects. These abilities supplement, rather than replace, those of shaping the soulmeld and of investing essentia.

Edit:
Actually, I dug up this post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7133753&postcount=4), which probably does a better job explaining it.

[Flickerdart]

Soulmelds are a bit like DMM Persisted Cleric spells. A Totemist or Incarnate of any level who wakes up in the morning can pick from any of their class soulmelds to shape (prepare) and then they last until he chooses to unshape them. How many they can shape is limited only by their class table.

Chakras are like magic item slots that become available as you gain levels in your class. You can "wear" a shaped soulmeld in a chakra slot you have access to, which grants you additional benefits from that soulmeld - again, all day long.

Essentia is kind of like power points. You can invest it into your soulmelds to increase their effects, except this also lasts all day (until you reinvest that essentia elsewhere - you never "spend" essentia, and even when you invest it into feats which have a "once per 24 hours" clause, that essentia remains invested and continues to provide the benefit). The amount of essentia you can invest into any soulmeld is limited by a function of your hit dice (1/5th? there's a table in the book), and there are some abilities that increase this cap.

So your Totemist's day will look like this: in the morning, he decides to shape some soulmelds. These are usually not that impressive on their own, with the exception of awesome ones like Blink Shirt. But then, provided your level is high enough, he binds one or more of these soulmelds to his chakra, and gains sweet benefits (like natural attacks). Then he can invest essentia into any of his soulmelds to increase their power. Once this is done, you don't have to worry about this anymore if you don't want to, since everything you just did persists until you want to change stuff.


Des binding ot your totem gain the other effects of binding(do you get both pounce and claws if shpinx claws is bound to your totem)?
Also is their a way to gain claw attacks without binding something to your totem?
An 11th level Totemist gains the ability to bind a soulmeld to two chakras. Before that, you must choose.
There aren't any ways to gain claws without using the Totem, I don't think, but there are ways to gain other natural attacks (such as slams with Astral Vambraces bound to the Hands or wing buffet attacks from Chaos Roc Span bound to the Shoulders).

[The Underlord]

I found the double charkra feat, which is sweet if you put it for your totem chakra. Where are incarnum classes of the tier system?

[Flickerdart]

I found the double charkra feat, which is sweet if you put it for your totem chakra. Where are incarnum classes of the tier system?
Totemist's a 3, Incarnate is also a 3 but can range wildly depending on whether or not you know what you're doing, and Soulborn is "don't play it" tier.

[Gavinfoxx]

Soulborn is Tier 5, Incarnate is Tier 3.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Totemist's a 3, Incarnate is also a 3 but can range wildly depending on whether or not you know what you're doing, and Soulborn is "don't play it" tier.

What's Soulborn? I've never heard of it. It's not in my copy of MoI. Although there are some pages with weird text on them and a random table...

[The Underlord]

Does a soulmeld bound to your totem chakra occupie a body slot(ie if you bind manticore belt to your chakra, does it occupy the waist slot?) Can you place a soulmeld on spot you couldnt bind(ie a totemist plaing one on his heart slot.) I am not referring to binding, I am refering to placing it on your body to gain its effects.

[Flickerdart]

Does a soulmeld bound to your totem chakra occupie a body slot(ie if you bind manticore belt to your chakra, does it occupy the waist slot?) Can you place a soulmeld on spot you couldnt bind(ie a totemist plaing one on his heart slot.) I am not referring to binding, I am refering to placing it on your body to gain its effects.
You don't place soulmelds. You could shape 50 soulmelds that all have a Waist option, and still wear a magic belt, so long as you didn't actually bind any one of them to your Waist chakra. However, if you bind something to that chakra, it'll replace your magic belt.

[Volthawk]

There aren't any ways to gain claws without using the Totem, I don't think, but there are ways to gain other natural attacks (such as slams with Astral Vambraces bound to the Hands or wing buffet attacks from Chaos Roc Span bound to the Shoulders).

Claws of the Wyrm, from Dragon Magic. Needs the Dragonblooded subtype, but if your race doesn't give you that, there's a feat in the same book, Dragontouched, that gives you it (as well as +1 to Listen, Search, Spot and saves vs paralysis). Needs Cha 11, though.

[Jude_H]

You don't place soulmelds. You could shape 50 soulmelds that all have a Waist option, and still wear a magic belt, so long as you didn't actually bind any one of them to your Waist chakra. However, if you bind something to that chakra, it'll replace your magic belt.You're spot on about the shaping/magic item interaction, but you can only have one soulmeld occupying a chakra (see pg. 50, end of paragraph 1).

edit:
This is a part of the shaping rules; separate from the double-binding limitation, which is addressed later.

[Flickerdart]

You're spot on about the shaping/magic item interaction, but you can only have one soulmeld occupying a chakra (see pg. 50, end of paragraph 1).

edit:
This is a part of the shaping rules; separate from the double-binding limitation, which is addressed later.
Huh, you're right. That's weird, but makes sense I guess.

[Big Fau]

Actually, I dug up this post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7133753&postcount=4), which probably does a better job explaining it.

That post on Gleemax he mentioned at the end of that post? He compared Meldshaping to working at a restaurant.

I remember because that's the post that convinced me to buy the MiC.


But yeah, @OP: If you have any difficult questions about Incarnum, the people to talk to are Person_Man (here) or Sinfire (over at Brilliant Gameologists).

[BlueInc]

Can't speak for everyone, but these posts have helped me a lot. Thanks!