Soulforge Warrior [3.5, base class, PEACH]

[BelGareth]

The SoulForge Warrior

"You dig into dusty tomes and practice arcane gestures to gain a modicum of relevance, You know not of real power until you have tapped into your own essence, it is that which drives us, it is the power of the gods!" Jerehn, talking on the subject of SoulForging.

Class skills (4 + Int Modifier per level): The SoulForge Warrior's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis) and Swim (Str).

4 x (4 + Int Modifier) for first level.

Alignment: Any

Starting Age: As Paladin

Starting Wealth: As Paladin

Hit Dice: d10

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Anima

1st| +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Strength of the Forge, Animus Capacity(+1) | 1

2nd| +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Soulforging | 3

3rd| +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Break the limits (Fatigue) | 5

4th| +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | SoulForge Resilience | 7

5th| +5 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Animus Capacity(+2) | 9

6th| +6/+1 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Bonus Feat | 11

7th| +7/+2 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Break the limits (exhaustion) | 13

8th| +8/+3 | +6 | +2 | +2 | SoulForge Resilience | 15

9th| +9/+4 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Animus Capacity(+3) | 17

10th| +10/+5 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Bonus Feat | 19

11th| +11/+6/+1 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Break the limits (Stunned) | 21

12th| +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +4 | +4 | SoulForge Resilience | 23

13th| +13/+8/+3 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Animus Capacity(+4) | 25

14th| +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +4 | +4 | Bonus Feat | 27

15th| +15/+10/+5 | +9 | +5 | +5 | Break the limits (Sickened) | 29

16th| +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10 | +5 | +5 | SoulForge Resilience | 31

17th| +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Animus Capacity(+5) | 33

18th| +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Bonus Feat | 35

19th| +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Break the limits (paralyzed) | 37

20th| +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +6 | SoulForge Master | 39
[/table]

Proficiencies: The SoulForge Warrior is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (including tower shields).

Strength of the Forge: You are able to wield the power of your soul like the edge of a blade, you may use your Constitution modifier in place of your Strength modifier.

Animus: This is your personal reservoir of soul energy that you can use to empower your chakras or feats to various affects. At first level you are only able to invest it into a feat (if you have one) as you gain soulforging at 2nd level.

SoulForging: At 2nd level you gain access to all 10 of your chakras, allowing you to invest your Animus into them, providing several different bonuses based on the chakra.

Crown
Investing Animus into your Crown Chakra enhances your mental faculties, a corona of blue soul energy hovers over your head. When investing Animus into this Chakra choose a mental attribute, you gain an insight bonus to the chosen attribute equal to the amount of Animus invested.

Feet
Investing Animus into your Feet Chakra increases your speed, enhancing your ability to move around the battlefield. As you move, blue soul energy is left in your wake as you move, you gain a +5ft bonus to speed for each point of Animus invested. When 5 points are invested you gain the affects of the Haste spell for as long as you retain the 5 points in this Chakra. (the bonuses from the spell supersede the benefits from this Chakra)

Hands
Investing Animus into your Hands chakra increase you ability to attack and deal damage, blue energy streams from your every swing and climbs up the shaft of your weapon enhancing every blow you land upon your enemy. You gain an insight bonus to your attack and damage rolls equal to the amount of Animus invested. (this affects melee and ranged weapons)

Arms
Investing Animus into your Arms improves your ability to dodge and deflect the incoming blades and arrows. Blue energy flows from your whole body, giving you an insight bonus to your AC equal to the amount of Animus invested into this Chakra.

Brow
Investing Animus into your Brow chakra improves your ability to see and sense things, your eyes glow with blue soul energy and you are able to perceive even the smallest movements. You an insight bonus to Spot, Search and Listen equal to 2 x the amount of Animus invested into this Chakra. When 5 points are invested you gain the affects of the See invisibility spell for as long as you retain the 5 points in this Chakra.

Shoulder
Investing Animus into your shoulder chakra enhances your ability to fend of mental attacks and dodge incoming fireballs. You gain a cloak of blue energy, that grants you an insight bonus to all of your saves equal to the amount of Animus invested into this Chakra.

Throat
Investing Animus into your throat allows you to speek with the charisma of a serpent, blue soul energy glows from your throat and mouth, giving you an eerie but strangley friendly demeanor. You an insight bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy and Sense Motive equal to 2 x the amount of Animus invested into this Chakra. When 5 points are invested you gain the affects of the Tongues spell for as long as you retain the 5 points in this Chakra.

Waist
Investing Animus into your Waist Chakra enhances your physical attributes, an aura of blue energy emanates from your body. When investing Animus into this Chakra choose a physical attribute, you gain an insight bonus to the chosen statistic equal to the amount of Animus invested.

Heart
Investing Animus into your Heart Chakra increases your durability and allows your skin to deflect even the strongest thrust. You gain DR x/- where x is equal to the amount of Animus invested into this Chakra.

Soul
Investing Animus into your Soul Chakra allows you to shrug of the elements with ease, you gain Resistance Acid, Cold, Electricity, and Fire equal to 5 x the amount of Animus invested.

There is a limited amount of Animus you can invest into your chakras/feats, at 1st level you are able to only invest 1 point of animus into a chakra or feat. The amount increases as you gain levels, as shown in the table below.

Animus Capacity
{table=head]Level|Max Animus
1-4|1
5-8|2
9-12|3
13-16|4
17-20|5
[/table]

As a swift action you may reallocate any amount of animus, investing it as appropriate into another chakra. (you must still adhere to the Animus capacity)

Break the limits (Ex): The SoulForge Adept has learned to supplement his physical body with that of his soul power, he can a number of times per day equal to 1 round/Con Modifier/day ignore the negative effects of fatigue.

At 7th level this ability improves allowing the Soulforge Warrior to ignore exhaustion, being stunned at 11th, Sickened at 15th and paralyzed at 19th.

This ability merely suppresses the effect and does not dispel or remove it.

SoulForge Resilience (Ex): So strong is the SoulForge's essence that the corrupting magic’s which would try to twist and defile it start to fail, the SoulForge Warrior gains a bonus equal to his Constitution modifier against death spells and affects.

At 8th level this bonus applies to negative levels and level drain affects.

At 12th level a Soulforge Warrior can become immune to death spells and affects for 1 round/Con Modifier/day, rounds do not need to be consecutive and activating this affect is a swift action.

At 16th level this ability improves, allowing the Soulforge Warrior to ignore negative levels and level drain affects in addition to immunity from death spells and affects.

This ability merely suppresses the effect and does not dispel or remove it.

Bonus Feat: At 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter, the Soulforge Warrior gains a bonus feat. You must still meet the prerequisites for the feat.

SoulForge Master (Su): You have mastered the art of forging your soul power to fuel your abilities and use it as a weapon. You have become infused with its very essence and it sustains you. You gain fast healing equal to your Constitution modifier, your SoulForge Resilience is now a permanent Death ward and you become an outsider with the native subtype.

Notes

Recently, I have been doing a lot of work with incarnum, having to actually completely re-haul the system (Psicarnum for Dreamscarred press). Through this process I have come across several promising mechanics and this, is hopefully one of them.

This is just one of a series of classes I am going to do, the arch typical warrior, the arcane caster, divine caster and skill monkey are next. The main mechanic being the Animus points and Soulforging.

So, please PEACH with the overall idea that more is to come, and I am trying to design Soulforging into a new alternate mechanic.

Feats are also in route.


Edit Log

9/8/12 - Moved SoulForge Resilience to even levels and inserted Animus Capacity bonus at 5th, 9th, 13th and 17th.
Maybe going to add a bonus feat to the empty levels.?

[LordErebus12]

have you looked at the magus variant called Soulforger (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCombat/classArchetypes/magus.html)? Should be at the bottom of the link.

figured some of the abilities might fit, idk.

[BelGareth]

have you looked at the magus variant called Soulforger (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCombat/classArchetypes/magus.html)? Should be at the bottom of the link.

figured some of the abilities might fit, idk.

Yeah I have see that, I like the Magus stuff, and the soulforger is a cool archetype, but I'm drawing heavily from Incarnum for Inspiration.

Feat Idea's
Soulforge Armor
Synergys with a armor enhancement (+1) to allow the wearer to invest Animus into armor for an enhancement bonus

Soulforge Weapon
As above but for your weapon.

Soulforge Strike
Allows you to sacrifice your Animus for damage on next attack (soulforge version of arcane strike)

Alabaster Strike
Invest animus into your power attacks strikes.

Extra Animus
Gain extra animus

Unlock the Soulforge
Gain limited access to a few chakras and your Animus pool

Strike against the Anvil
Invst to deal animus damage to target (if they have a pool, you drain points form it)

[Amnoriath]

It is okay, but rather boring and underwhelming. If you are making this as a sample for Dreamscarred Press I think you need to start to look at making things to invest animus in(something like soulmelds, except not of course:smallwink:). What you have now is a fighter with possibly a little better performance in a couple of areas depending on animus investiture. It also doesn't really have much of a theme going on with it making it vanilla and possibly underpowered.

[BelGareth]

It is okay, but rather boring and underwhelming.
Whats so boring about it?


If you are making this as a sample for Dreamscarred Press I think you need to start to look at making things to invest animus in(something like soulmelds, except not of course:smallwink:).
This isn't for Dreamscarred press, only some of my own homebrew.


What you have now is a fighter with possibly a little better performance in a couple of areas depending on animus investiture.
That is (kinda) what i was aiming for, but I think this one has way more umph and flavor than a plain fighter, and is way better, mechanically than just bonus feats.


It also doesn't really have much of a theme going on with it making it vanilla and possibly underpowered.
This is undeerstandable, I am working on the fluff, so this is a test run for the class with the fluff per se.

[SinsI]

Strength of the Forge, if that modifier applies to everything Strength-related, is so overpowered any character that has to do some melee combat is going to start as one.
Not to mention that Half-Orcs are now completely obsolete...

[Amnoriath]

Whats so boring about it?


This isn't for Dreamscarred press, only some of my own homebrew.


That is (kinda) what i was aiming for, but I think this one has way more umph and flavor than a plain fighter, and is way better, mechanically than just bonus feats.


This is undeerstandable, I am working on the fluff, so this is a test run for the class with the fluff per se.

1. Because it is just a bonus collector of things any character has. Its pseudo-immunities also are very limited in use, 1+con. modifier rounds a day. It also kind of goes back to what I said of it not having theme or even a good niche to fall into. I mean a normal fighter can at least serve its purpose for getting the feats on a feat starved buils. This just racks a lot of bonuses possibly to abuse(see below).
2. Okay, got it.:smallsmile: I just saw the note and thought that is what you were doing.
3. Well, to be honest it does that a little too well. When fully invested the hands chakra and the Soulforge weapon feat you have a +20 bonus to attack and damage on a full BAB character. This is power attack gold, normally pretty much any other fighter type character would need the Heedless Charge option of shock trooper to compete with this which of course needs the use of charge and reduces AC for the round equal to level of power attack.

[WyvernLord]

Animus limit means it can only get to plus five attack and damage.

[Amnoriath]

Animus limit means it can only get to plus five attack and damage.

There is a class feature that adds +1, +2, +3, +4, and +5 respectively.

[Dumbledore lives]

While the idea is nice, and it comes out looking like a less complicated version of Incarnum, one of my favorite sub-systems but one that is incredibly difficult to explain, there are a few small issues. I think Strength of the Forge is too ridiculous, especially when combined with the waist to gain even more con to your theoretical dragonborn mongrelfolk, resulting in one of the best tanks out there, especially with something like Fist of the Forest to gain Con to AC, making you able to dodge hits as well.

Beyond that more active abilities are necessary, because right now there is little he can do that other meleers can't, he needs some special abilities like stuns or ability damage or something, just to get out of the routine of full attack every turn.

[BelGareth]

There is a class feature that adds +1, +2, +3, +4, and +5 respectively.

These do not stack, so only a + bonus which levels with your level.


While the idea is nice, and it comes out looking like a less complicated version of Incarnum, one of my favorite sub-systems but one that is incredibly difficult to explain
That was the point.


, there are a few small issues. I think Strength of the Forge is too ridiculous, especially when combined with the waist to gain even more con to your theoretical dragonborn mongrelfolk, resulting in one of the best tanks out there, especially with something like Fist of the Forest to gain Con to AC, making you able to dodge hits as well.
I realize this now, it will be fixed.


Beyond that more active abilities are necessary, because right now there is little he can do that other meleers can't, he needs some special abilities like stuns or ability damage or something, just to get out of the routine of full attack every turn.
And again, correct. I had a realization about this class, that I was actually writing another concept (for the same fluff) into this class. I was actually incorporating an alternate magic item mechanic (for +stats, AC, toHit, saves, movement, etc...) without realizing it, soo...I will be scrapping this specific iteration and doing another.

Thanks all for commenting!

[SinsI]

It might be a good idea to move Strength of the Forge to the 10th or 20th level - that way it is far less exploitable...

[Deviston]

"power of your soul" makes me think Charisma.

Con makes me think "power of your extra layers of flesh and ability to fight off diseases, infection, and other maladies"

What about "Strength of the Forge- Your ability to hold the power of souls is chanelled throughout your body. You may use your Constitution modifier in place of your Strength modifier for damage rolls, attacks rolls, CMD, CMB, Strength checks, and (add whichever other checks you want it to account for)."

The main reason I say spell it out exactly, is because of other things that allow you to use a Strength mod for this or that. In combination, you would be changing more than intended to be dependent on Con. I seem to remember a feat that allows Strength to be used for casters main ability score. Should they take a one level dip into this class, they get bonus HP's, spells, DC's and so forth. Adding more "ability replacement" features paves the way for the ultimate SAD build. IMO.

[WyvernLord]

I like the class and I'd love to see the full write up on the feats.

[BelGareth]

I like the class and I'd love to see the full write up on the feats.

I will be redoing the class shortly. I'll post an update here when I do.