Psionic Power Questions

[Illyria]

I am building a Psycic Warrior & I have a question about Psionic powers. The character is Barbarian 1 / Totemist 2 / Psycic Warrior 7 currently. I took Claws of the Sphinx bound to my totem chakra (to provide pounce & +1 attk/Dmg) and am looking @ psychic warrior for buffs etc. At level 7 I can pretty much setup powers like Inertial Armor w/ +7 AC as always on (1/hr. per level) and Metaphysical Claw +1 Attk. / Dmg (1hr. / lvl.) My question is this:

Can I Manifest Metaphysical Claw 2x - 1 on each claw?

Same question for Dissolving Touch which will retain 6d6 acid damage / claw until expended?

The DM is ruling that I can apply TWF (& treat claws as a light weapon) to the claws as neither TWF or Multiattack apply according to RAW.

For feats I took:
Extra Rage
Reckless Rage
Speed of thought (now a Wild Dwarf that can move 40ft. per turn)
TWF
TWD
Imp. TWF

Eventually I am going to add in Expansion as a swift action to increase one size catagory for +4 str. & +6 Str. from Rage which will buff me to a +12 on attk/dmg for primary & +6 attk/ Dmg. on secondary attacks.

Yeah, so he is kind of a Wolverine - esqe character (was not my original concept), but the image of a 3 ft. Barbarian Dwarf in nothing but a loin cloth in a rage w/ huge claws charging an enemy was to much to pass up.

[Crestfallen]

I am building a Psycic Warrior & I have a question about Psionic powers. The character is Barbarian 1 / Totemist 2 / Psycic Warrior 7 currently. I took Claws of the Sphinx bound to my totem chakra (to provide pounce & +1 attk/Dmg) and am looking @ psychic warrior for buffs etc. At level 7 I can pretty much setup powers like Inertial Armor w/ +7 AC as always on (1/hr. per level) and Metaphysical Claw +1 Attk. / Dmg (1hr. / lvl.) My question is this:

Can I Manifest Metaphysical Claw 2x - 1 on each claw?

Same question for Dissolving Touch which will retain 6d6 acid damage / claw until expended?

The DM is ruling that I can apply TWF (& treat claws as a light weapon) to the claws as neither TWF or Multiattack apply according to RAW.

For feats I took:
Extra Rage
Reckless Rage
Speed of thought (now a Wild Dwarf that can move 40ft. per turn)
TWF
TWD
Imp. TWF

Eventually I am going to add in Expansion as a swift action to increase one size catagory for +4 str. & +6 Str. from Rage which will buff me to a +12 on attk/dmg for primary & +6 attk/ Dmg. on secondary attacks.

Yeah, so he is kind of a Wolverine - esqe character (was not my original concept), but the image of a 3 ft. Barbarian Dwarf in nothing but a loin cloth in a rage w/ huge claws charging an enemy was to much to pass up.

For dissolving touch, no. The spell itself is a touch attack, dissolving weapon Yes, touch no.

Metaphysical claw, yes. Yes you can.

[HunterOfJello]

If you were casting a spell, then you could both hold a charge and deliver it through a natural attack. I don't see this mentioned in the XPH though, so I guess psionics have to be touch. This also isn't a good method of fighting since the SRD specifically mentions that, "if you manifest another power, the touch power dissipates."

You can therefore only hold one touch power at a time.

Also, I'm getting the impression that your DM doesn't understand how natural attacks work. That, or he misunderstands incarnum magic. Your Sphinx Claws work exactly as natural attacks do. If you had a different type of natural attack as well (such as a bite), then Multiattack could apply. However, two weapon fighting never does.

Go to the SRD and read up on Natural Weapons (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#naturalWeapons). Since it's called Metaphysical Claw and not claws, I guess they meant for that power to only work on one claw at a time.

[Illyria]

So I took your advice and read up on natural weapons @ brilliantgameologists.com and it stated "When a creature has more than one natural weapon, one of them (or sometimes a pair or set of them) is the primary weapon. All the creature’s remaining natural weapons are secondary." It also said
"The number of attacks a creature can make with its natural weapons depends on the type of the attack—generally, a creature can make one bite attack, one attack per claw or tentacle, one gore attack, one sting attack, or one slam attack..."

also "An attack with a primary natural weapon uses the creature’s full attack bonus. "

So am I to assume that with a full round action, regardless of additional attacks through BaB, I can make 1 attack w/ each claw?

Regarding Dissolving Touch, I read through the SRD and you are right, that idea would not work.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Yes, sets of multiples of the same natural weapon always give you one attack per item in the set, all of which are either your primary set of weapons or a secondary set of weapons. You still get to make multiple attacks only on a full attack action, if you charge (without pounce) or take a standard action to attack or make an attack of opportunity, you only get to make a single attack with a single weapon, even if you have a set of multiple weapons of the same type such as claws.

For example, a Giant Squid has 10 tentacles and 1 bite. Its tentacles are its primary weapon, so in a full attack it gets to make an attack with each of them, and the bite is its secondary attack.

As another example, a Dragon gets a bite, 2 claws, 2 wings, and a tail slap. The bite is its primary attack, the claws are a secondary attack but it strikes once with each, the wings are a secondary attack but it strikes once with each, and the tail slap is also a secondary attack but it's unique in that it adds a higher Str bonus than normal.

[Illyria]

As for using Metaphysical Claw 1x on each claw I am not sure what prevents me from doing that. The XPH reads:

"If you have a claw attack (either from an actual natural weapon or from an effect such as claws of the beast) or a bite attack (which could be a natural bite attack or one you gain by means of the power bite of the wolf ), you can use this power to provide one of your natural weapons a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls.
Augment: If you spend 4 additional power points, this power’s duration increases to 1 hour per level.
In addition, for every 4 additional power points you spend, this power improves the natural weapon’s enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls by 1."

So I manifest it once on each claw. I don't think it would count as "stacking" or anything like that because it is a seperate weapon. It is not a touch attack, so it does not disapate when I manifest it the second time, it is an enchantment. Am I wrong? If so please direct me to the text that prevents it.

[Urpriest]

As for using Metaphysical Claw 1x on each claw I am not sure what prevents me from doing that.

That's because there's no reason to think that anything prevents you from doing that, and nobody has told you otherwise. They're different weapons, of course you can manifest powers on them separately.

[Illyria]

HunterofJello said otherwise @ the bottom of his post. Regardless thanks for helping clarify.

[HunterOfJello]

HunterofJello said otherwise @ the bottom of his post. Regardless thanks for helping clarify.

The bottom of my post wasn't completely clear. I was pointing out that the power works on one claw at a time and not both claws with a single casting (like a spell or power might). So if you cast it twice, it will effect both claws.

There are some spells like Blood Wind in the Spell Compendium that give a benefit to all of the natural attacks of the caster. Unfortunately, Metaphysical Claw doesn't appear to be one of them.



So am I to assume that with a full round action, regardless of additional attacks through BaB, I can make 1 attack w/ each claw?


Yup. That's how it works. One benefit of this is the fact that instead of having extra attacks that have a harder time hitting after the first, you'll have two attacks that both have a high chance of hitting. That's why Totemists are great at very low levels, but don't scale as well for getting extra attacks at later levels. If you get the giralon's claws, you do get a helluva lot of attacks though.