Dumb down magic of incarum for me

[Nosta]

ok so I've been playing 3.5 for about two and half years
and I've have friends in the group who have been playing since 07
and one member who has been doing D&D since the late 90s

problem is the magic of incarnum is not used do to the fact that non of us understand it

however in my next game I really want to use that book

so I got a few questions

first off: I know that the chakras equal body slots and are used to bind items to. what I need to know is what action is it to bind an item, how long dose the bind last and also can you unbind and bind another one to the same chakra in the same 24hrs

secondly; those points that power the class. I know you can pump those in to your bound items to increase there abilities. what I need to know is do I have to keep pumping points each turn to make the effects last or how long dose the boost from the points last. and what action is this

third: I here soulborn sucks between the other two what one is more versatile and would make a good gestalt combo for massive melee damage

[Troacctid]

1. You select chakra binds each morning, much in the same way that spellcasters prepare their spells. You can only rebind them if you have a special ability that allows you to do so, such as the Totemist's 8th level ability.
2. Essentia remains invested until you move it somewhere else. If you've ever played FTL: Faster Than Light, you'll be familiar with the mechanics, because it's essentially the same as a spaceship captain dividing power between the engines, shields, weapons, and life support systems. The engines are powered all the time, but if you're caught in a black hole's gravity well, you might divert all power to the engines to gain enough speed to escape. Similarly, if a Zoltan ship is pelting you with lasers, you might divert additional power to the shields to make sure that they hold.
3. It depends on what you're combining them with.

[AmberVael]

To build on Troacctid's answers:

1) To shape your soulmelds (choosing which ones you'll have, what slots they occupy, and what chakras they're bound to) you first need to rest 8 hours, then spend 1 hour shaping them. There is no duration to how long your soulmelds and their binds last- so long as you're okay with keeping the same soulmelds and binds, you'll never need to prepare them again. Its always going to take 9 hours to swap out your soulmelds, so while you can do it multiple times within 24 hours, its going to eat up your day pretty fast.

2) As Troacctid said, essentia remains where you invested it and continues to give you that bonus indefinitely. You can allocate, remove, and reallocate all of your essentia as a single swift action, no matter how many places you want to pull it from or invest it into.

3) I'd say Totemist holds the edge for massive melee damage and versatility, really, but its really close and Incarnate does have advantages. Totemist is probably going to win out if you can work a lot of natural attacks into your routine, Incarnate will be better if you want to use manufactured weapons or options like maneuvers.

[Nosta]

1. You select chakra binds each morning, much in the same way that spellcasters prepare their spells. You can only rebind them if you have a special ability that allows you to do so, such as the Totemist's 8th level ability.
2. Essentia remains invested until you move it somewhere else. If you've ever played FTL: Faster Than Light, you'll be familiar with the mechanics, because it's essentially the same as a spaceship captain dividing power between the engines, shields, weapons, and life support systems. The engines are powered all the time, but if you're caught in a black hole's gravity well, you might divert all power to the engines to gain enough speed to escape. Similarly, if a Zoltan ship is pelting you with lasers, you might divert additional power to the shields to make sure that they hold.
3. It depends on what you're combining them with.


well I was thinking of doing A ToB class but not sure what combo would be good

[UrsusArctos]

There are two levels of using a soulmeld: shaped and bound. Also, all chakras correspond to a body slot.

At the beginning of the day you shape your soulmelds to your chakras. Only one may occupy a given chakra at a time. You shape a number equal to whatever it says on the table. Then, you choose a number of those soulmelds equal to the number of binds you are given by the table. If you have unlocked the appropriate chakra bind you may bind those soulmelds and get additional power. Binding occupies your attunement slot, so you can't use a bind soulmeld and a magic item in the same body slot/chakra. (IE A Throat bind and a magic neck slot item)

Essentia is energy source that powers up your soulmelds, and other class features/feats. You can reinvest your essentia as a swift action. As long as you do not move it, it remains in that receptacle. Basically, this is powering up certain features. If you are in a fight on the ground, the ability to fly isn't as important, so you might take essentia from a soulmeld that is granting such an ability and put into a more combat focused ability.

Incarnate is more versatile. Totemist is better at melee combat.