Class Selection

[Daolothe]

Three of my friends and I are starting a naval D&D 3.5 campaign. As much as I liked the look of the Soulknife, I keep reading that it is a rather underpowered class. What classes are there that are similar to the Soulknife, or is there a way that I could buff the Soulknife to make him more equal to the other characters in the campaign? The other three characters are a ranger, an artificer, and a wizard. For classes that are similar to the Soulknife, I was thinking something along the lines of a melee fighter that uses magic to augment their fighting abilities and has a high movement speed.

[Jeff the Green]

Consider a psychic warrior with the soulbound weapon (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070214a) ACF. It's leaps and bounds better than the soulknife, has the whole "create a weapon with your mind" thing going, and has a bunch of nifty things it can do with its powers.

[Ansem]

Swashbuckler > Dread Pirate might be a good combo.

[Fax Celestis]

See if you can use the Pathfinder soulknife (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/soulknife) instead.

[Daolothe]

The Psychic Warrior seems pretty interesting. I found somewhere that you can build him as a "tripper". This means:

"This style provides a lot of battlefield control, while dishing out reasonable amounts of damage. Use expansion, a reach weapon and knock-down to trip anything in a 20 foot range. This works extremely well with a tashalatora build, too. This style's advantage over the others is that it is (almost) always applicable and does not require as many feats, which leaves you more room for customization."

I feel like this playstyle would fit well with the rest of my group and the fact that we will be fighting on a ship often.

I will also look at the Swashbuckler

[Daolothe]

See if you can use the Pathfinder soulknife (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/soulknife) instead.

Is the Pathfinder Soulknife more balanced than the D&D 3.5 one?

[ArcturusV]

While it doesn't have the "Magic" feel... I'd probably suggest considering Barbarian myself. They have a lot of the class skills you want in naval life. The lack of Heavy Armor isn't a penalty knowing how most DMs like to knock the guy in full plate armor overboard. Fast movement? Check. Rage? Always fun. Tons of neat ACFs and PrCs out there, sounds good.

[Fax Celestis]

Is the Pathfinder Soulknife more balanced than the D&D 3.5 one?

It's way better at doing what it's supposed to be able to do.

[Phelix-Mu]

A full BAB, a sprinkling of bonus feats (psionic or fighter), and a slightly less useless Psychic Strike would really fix a fair amount of what's wrong with soulknife. Oh, and a totally less restrictive and accelerated bit on what special abilities can be added to the weapon. Should be very flexible and better than magic weapons that are reasonable with WBL, as the mindblade is THE MAJOR CLASS FEATURE.

Perhaps also some kind of half-manifesting. Or at least an ML. Oh, oh, oh. Maybe a big chunky bonus to UPD, in the manner of warlock, but much earlier on. This avoids turning it into a Psychic Warrior++, while still adding flexibility and versatility.

I'm sure there is good homebrew up on this site for Soulknife. The alterations/downgrade that happened with the 3.5 Soulknife must have provoked a backlash and inspired homebrew that kept some of what was lost.

[Fax Celestis]

A full BAB, a sprinkling of bonus feats (psionic or fighter), and a slightly less useless Psychic Strike would really fix a fair amount of what's wrong with soulknife. Oh, and a totally less restrictive and accelerated bit on what special abilities can be added to the weapon. Should be very flexible and better than magic weapons that are reasonable with WBL, as the mindblade is THE MAJOR CLASS FEATURE.

Perhaps also some kind of half-manifesting. Or at least an ML. Oh, oh, oh. Maybe a big chunky bonus to UPD, in the manner of warlock, but much earlier on. This avoids turning it into a Psychic Warrior++, while still adding flexibility and versatility.

I'm sure there is good homebrew up on this site for Soulknife. The alterations/downgrade that happened with the 3.5 Soulknife must have provoked a backlash and inspired homebrew that kept some of what was lost.

What you have described is basically the PF soulknife.

[Phelix-Mu]

What you have described is basically the PF soulknife.

And posted for those with DMs that have a PF allergy. This way it's "peer-tested homebrew" instead. Not that DMs with PF allergy are likely to accept homebrew....:smallfrown:

[Lord_Gareth]

And posted for those with DMs that have a PF allergy. This way it's "peer-tested homebrew" instead. Not that DMs with PF allergy are likely to accept homebrew....:smallfrown:

Hey, I've got a PF allergy that has nothing to do with hating PF and everything to do with how much I hate Paizo.

Thankfully Soulknife is DSP instead ^_^

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Take only enough Soulknife to qualify for Soulbow (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060403a&page=2), and fill in the rest with (Unarmed) Swordsage.

[Phelix-Mu]

Hey, I've got a PF allergy that has nothing to do with hating PF and everything to do with how much I hate Paizo.

Thankfully Soulknife is DSP instead ^_^

And such is my ignorance. Alas. Well, I hope that the new ToB-esque project will compel me to research PF and DSP more thoroughly (so I can cherrypick the best of it and cannibalize the rest).:smallsmile:

[Daolothe]

So, I am interested in the tripping build that I found here: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162701, because I want control over the battlefield.

The description for this build talks about using a weapon with reach to trip up enemies, but in the feats section, all the feats seem to be about hand-to-hand combat. Does a sweeping weapon not require feats or is it not included in that feat list?

I am pretty new to D&D and this is the most involved campaign that I've been in, since the other games have just fallen apart due to time. Where can I find a complete list of all of the feats and what they do?

[Jeff the Green]

So, I am interested in the tripping build that I found here: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162701, because I want control over the battlefield.

The description for this build talks about using a weapon with reach to trip up enemies, but in the feats section, all the feats seem to be about hand-to-hand combat. Does a sweeping weapon not require feats or is it not included in that feat list?

It does, at least if you want to be good at it. You'll need at a minimum Improved Trip (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedTrip), which allows you to make a free attack when you successfully trip someone. Knockdown (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown) is helpful as well. Look at the bit on tripping (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/specialAttacks.htm#trip) in the combat section.

Unfortunately, Improved Trip requires Combat Expertise, which requires an Intelligence score of 13, and Intelligence wasted on a Psychic Warrior. There are two ways to get it without Combat Expertise: wolf totem barbarian (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#wolfTotemClassFeatures ) and passive way monk (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#passiveWay).

The build in the guide suggests using monk, and taking the feats Monastic Training (ECS) and then Tashalatora, which together let you stack monk and psychic warrior levels for your unarmed damage, flurry of blows, and AC bonus. Using monk is a decent choice, but as a tripper your unarmed damage is irrelevant (you should be wielding a reach weapon you can trip with) and you'll get more AC from wearing armor.

If you pick barbarian you can technically manifest while raging, though check with your DM. Trade rage forwhirling frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy )), and fast movement for pounce (from Complete Champion, lion spirit totem ACF). Whirling frenzy will get you an extra chance to trip and pounce will give you the option of doing a bunch of damage on a charge.

Another couple handy feats are Combat Reflexes (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#combatReflexes) (you can trip on AoOs) and Stand Still (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#standStill) (some things you can't trip easily, and this works almost as well).


I am pretty new to D&D and this is the most involved campaign that I've been in, since the other games have just fallen apart due to time. Where can I find a complete list of all of the feats and what they do?

That would be copyright infringement. There are places you can find them online, but linking or pointing to them is strictly verboten in the Playground.

However, almost everything from PHB, DMG, MM, UA, and XPH are available free and legally from the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm), including feats.

[gurgleflep]

Skimmed through the comments and saw recommendations for the psychic warrior and the barbarian - why not combine the two?! You can't manifest while raging (unless there are feats that say otherwise that I'm unaware of), but a psionic, raging monstrosity would be quite fun! :smallbiggrin:

Edit: Oh, to find it, just look at my signature.

[Jeff the Green]

Skimmed through the comments and saw recommendations for the psychic warrior and the barbarian - why not combine the two?! You can't manifest while raging (unless there are feats that say otherwise that I'm unaware of), but a psionic, raging monstrosity would be quite fun! :smallbiggrin:

Edit: Oh, to find it, just look at my signature.

See my most recent post. Technically you can manifest in a rage, as psionics-magic transparency doesn't include class features.

Fluff-wise, Righteous Wrath (http://dndtools.eu/feats/book-of-exalted-deeds--52/righteous-wrath--2458/) might let you manifest, but not by RAW. A psionic adaptation of Rage Mage (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20031116a&page=7) would do it, though you'd lose yet another manifester level. Honestly, I'd rather fluff the rage as a battle trance (cf. Robert Downey Jr's Sherlock Holmes) and as my DM to let me manifest during it.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I am pretty new to D&D and this is the most involved campaign that I've been in, since the other games have just fallen apart due to time. Where can I find a complete list of all of the feats and what they do?

Not just feats (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/lists), but you'll have to refer to a given item's source book for what it does.

[gurgleflep]

See my most recent post. Technically you can manifest in a rage, as psionics-magic transparency doesn't include class features.

Fluff-wise, Righteous Wrath (http://dndtools.eu/feats/book-of-exalted-deeds--52/righteous-wrath--2458/) might let you manifest, but not by RAW. A psionic adaptation of Rage Mage (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20031116a&page=7) would do it, though you'd lose yet another manifester level. Honestly, I'd rather fluff the rage as a battle trance (cf. Robert Downey Jr's Sherlock Holmes) and as my DM to let me manifest during it.

Well this (this comment and the previous one) was actually quite helpful, thank you :smallbiggrin: