Elves
2020-08-17, 04:24 PM
Soulborn is basically never used, so this is an attempt at a more interesting incarnum warrior. It's for the Age of Warriors project (see my sig).
This is a simplified demo. More class features will be added. For now, I want feedback on the core mechanics.
This class has a serious dip problem that needs to be fixed. Right now, a small dip grants you access to way too many maneuver options.
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Soulborn
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[Image: "Layla, a sublime soulborn, shapes a soulblade."] (https://i.imgur.com/P2rBx6m.png)
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Soulborn are spiritual warriors who harness incarnum to empower themselves in combat and manifest spiritual armaments.
This remade soulborn gives the class a unique mixture of martial maneuvers and soulmelds. Unearthed Arcana has the rules for variant classes.
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Table: the Soulborn (simple version)------Hit Die: d10
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Level
BAB
Fort
Ref
Will
Special
Soulmelds
Essentia
Chakra Binds
1st
+1
+2
+0
+2
Soulmeld maneuvers, soul strike
1
0
0
2nd
+2
+3
+0
+3
—
1
1
0
3rd
+3
+3
+1
+3
Expanded essentia capacity (soul strike)
1
1
0
4th
+4
+4
+1
+4
Chakra binds (crown, feet, hands)
2
2
1
5th
+5
+4
+1
+4
Soulmeld maneuver mastery
2
2
1
6th
+6
+5
+2
+5
—
2
3
1
7th
+7
+5
+2
+5
—
2
4
1
8th
+8
+6
+2
+6
—
2
4
1
9th
+9
+6
+3
+6
Chakra binds (arms, brow, shoulders)
2
5
1
10th
+10
+7
+3
+7
Soulmeld maneuver mastery
2
5
1
11th
+11
+7
+3
+7
—
3
6
2
12th
+12
+8
+4
+8
—
3
7
2
13th
+13
+8
+4
+8
Chakra binds (throat, waist)
3
8
2
14th
+14
+9
+4
+9
—
3
9
2
15th
+15
+9
+5
+5
Soulmeld maneuver mastery
4
10
2
16th
+16
+10
+5
+5
—
4
10
3
17th
+17
+10
+5
+5
Chakra bind (heart)
4
11
3
18th
+18
+11
+6
+6
—
4
12
3
19th
+19
+11
+6
+6
Timeless body
4
13
3
20th
+20
+12
+6
+6
—
5
14
3
Class Skills (4 + Int skill points per level): Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (the planes), Martial Lore, Profession, Ride, Spellcraft, Swim.
CLASS FEATURES
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: As base soulborn.
Meldshaping: You shape soulmelds drawn from the soulborn soulmeld list.
Soulmeld Maneuvers: As a Tome of Battle soulborn, you don’t learn or ready maneuvers like a normal martial adept. Instead, your maneuvers change each day depending on which soulmelds you shape.
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Each soulmeld you shape grants you several maneuvers. However, when you initiate one of these maneuvers, you lose all of the soulmeld’s effects (including its other granted maneuvers) until the maneuver is recovered.
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As a full-round action, you can recover all of your expended maneuvers. You can reinvest your essentia as part of the same action.
Soul Strike (Su): You can invest essentia into this class feature. Its essentia capacity equals that of a soulmeld. Once per round when you make a melee attack that isn’t part of a maneuver, you can declare it to be a soul strike. If the attack hits, it deals additional damage for each point of essentia invested in this feature. The first point of essentia grants 1d6 extra damage, and each further point increases the damage by the previous amount +1d6 (so 2 points = +3d6, 3 points = +6d6, 4 points = +10d6, and 5 points = +15d6). In addition, if the target’s alignment is opposed to yours on at least one axis, you add your Charisma bonus on the to-hit roll.
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Starting at 3rd level, soul strike's essentia capacity is one higher than that of a soulmeld.
Soulmeld Maneuver Mastery: At levels 5th, 10th, and 15th, choose one maneuver type: boost, counter, rush, strike, or utility. Each time you gain this ability, you must choose a different type. Once per encounter when you initiate a soulmeld maneuver of that type, you can treat your essentia invested in the base soulmeld as 1 higher than it is for the purpose of determining the maneuver's effects.
Elves
2020-08-17, 04:24 PM
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Soulborn Maneuvers
As a Tome of Battle soulborn, you don’t learn or ready maneuvers like a normal martial adept. Instead, your maneuvers change each day depending on which soulmelds you shape.
Each soulmeld you shape with your soulborn meldshaping grants you several maneuvers.
However, when you initiate one of a soulmeld’s granted maneuvers, you lose all of the soulmeld’s effects (including its other granted maneuvers) until the maneuver is recovered.
Although this causes you to temporarily lose the benefits of the soulmeld, the soulmeld still counts as shaped, and its essentia can be increased or decreased as normal.
A few soulmelds grant a stance option. Since a stance is never expended or recovered, initiating a soulmeld stance denies you the soulmeld’s effects only until you leave the stance.
Sharing a soulmeld with a familiar, animal companion or special mount through the Share Soulmeld feat also lets them use its maneuvers; if they initiate one, the soulmeld is deactivated for both of you. Sharing a soulmeld through other means doesn’t grant the recipient access to its maneuvers.
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► Soulmeld maneuvers, and the effects they create, are supernatural.
► Their save DC is 10 + ½ your meldshaper level + your Constitution modifier.
► Unless noted otherwise, a counter takes an immediate action to initiate, a boost takes a swift action, a rush takes a move action, and a strike takes a standard action.
► Essentia effects of soulmeld maneuvers are always based upon the essentia invested in the soulmeld that grants them.
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Chakra descriptor: When you bind a soulmeld to one of your chakras, it grants an additional maneuver, denoted by the [Chakra] descriptor. For example, a soulmeld maneuver with the [Crown Chakra] descriptor can only be used if you’ve bound the soulmeld to the crown chakra.
Martial Soulmeld: When you chakra-bind a maneuver with a Martial Soulmeld entry, you can forgo the soulmeld's normal [Chakra] maneuver(s) to instead gain a maneuver from the specified discipline. This works just like it would for a discipline item. As normal, initiating the maneuver denies you the benefits of the soulmeld until the maneuver is recovered.
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The Adaptive Style feat has no effect upon your soulborn maneuvers, because it has no way of letting you change your readied maneuvers. Special recovery mechanisms that don’t change or specify readied maneuvers, like the Sudden Recovery feat, work normally.
Elves
2020-08-17, 04:25 PM
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Here are a few of the soulmelds I've done, to show you the gist.
Adhesive Steps (Boost): The bottoms of your sandals glow blue and gain the ability to adhere to any surface. For 1 round, +1 round per point of invested essentia, you can move normally across surfaces regardless of their orientation, and you don’t need to make Balance checks for the purpose of staying steady on narrow or uneven surfaces.
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If your sandals are bound, you can initiate this maneuver as an immediate action when falling while in reach of a wall or other solid surface. Unless your weight drags the object with you, your fall stops. You still take falling damage for the distance you’ve fallen so far, but it can be halved with a Reflex save equal to 10 + the damage you would take. You then gain this maneuver’s normal benefit.
Cerulean Footprints (Rush): Move up to your speed. You retain the benefit of your sandals until this movement ends. Each space you leave is filled with glowing blue footprints. Allies who travel in these spaces gain the benefit of your sandals for the purpose of walking on water and enhancing their speed. They lose these benefits if they leave the area of your footprints, which ends their movement if it puts them at or above their normal movement allowance. The footprints last 1 round, +1 round per point of invested essentia.
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If your sandals are bound, you can initiate this maneuver as a full-round action to move up to twice your speed as part of it.
Cerulean Glide (Counter): You can initiate this counter when you would trip or fail a Balance check. Your sandals glide you to safety, preventing you from falling and allowing you to take a free 5-foot step.
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Alternately, you can initiate this counter immediately upon entering a slippery area, such as ice or a grease spell. In this case, you glide forward until you leave the area (moving the same direction in which you entered it). This movement doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. You can’t glide further than your base speed as part of this maneuver, but you can use your subsequent move actions to continue to glide, moving at double speed over the slippery surface in the same straight line. However, your movement now provokes as normal.
Cerulean Speed (Boost): Until the end of your next turn, your base speed for all movement modes increases by 10 feet per point of essentia invested, +5 feet if your sandals are bound. The bind benefit increases to +10 feet at 11th level.
Cerulean Transit (Rush) [Feet Chakra]: You teleport 5 feet per point of essentia invested. The destination must be within your line of sight.
Claw at a Distance (Strike): Standard or full-round action. You make a clawing motion, and an image of your claws of the wyrm appear beside and strike a distant opponent. Make a single or full attack with your claws against a target up to 5 ft./ML outside of your normal melee reach. If your claws are bound, the range increases by ML feet, and when you initiate this maneuver as a full-round action, you can split your two claw attacks between two different targets in range.
Glowing Blue Claw Marks (Strike): Standard or full-round action. You slash at the air with your claws, and the glowing blue tracks of their passage hover in place for a few moments. Make a single or full attack with your claws into an unoccupied space. Roll for both attack and damage. The first creature who enters that space is subject to those attacks, with the same attack and damage results. The trap lasts until this maneuver is recovered. The glowing blue claw marks in the air are clearly visible. When you initiate this maneuver as a full-round action, you can instead create two different traps, each with the force of a single claw attack.
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If your claws are bound, then instead of lasting until triggered, you can choose for the effect to last 1 round per invested essentia (or until this maneuver is recovered), targeting all creatures who enter the space during that time.
Lashing Claw (Counter): As the Wyrm’s Might maneuver.
Slice and Dice (Strike) [Arms Chakra]: Standard or full-round action. Make a single melee attack or melee full attack with your claws. Each point of invested essentia grants you an extra claw attack, or an extra attack with each claw if you’re making a full attack. Each extra attack is made at a cumulative -5 penalty. If you’re making a full attack, the penalties are only cumulative per-claw.
Piercing Dragonclasp (Strike) [Hands Chakra]: As part of this maneuver, you try to establish or maintain a grapple. You use the result of a claw attack roll instead of a grapple check, and if you win, you can choose to deal claw damage instead of unarmed damage.
Martial Soulmeld: Wyrm’s Might
Assassin’s Precaution (Stance): You gain the poison use class feature, as an assassin. Requires 5th level.
Empower Poison (Boost): You can initiate this boost when you apply a poison (including your gloves’ soulmeld ability). For each point of essentia invested in your gloves, the poison’s DC increases by 1 and its secondary damage comes 1 round sooner than normal.
Poison-Taster’s Carafe (Utility): Standard action. You touch a cup, jug, or other modestly sized container. If poison is poured into the container, alone or as part of another solution, the container turns bright green. This maneuver lasts until it’s recovered. Requires ML 3rd.
Resist Poison (Counter): You can initiate this counter when you’re affected by poison. You gain a bonus to save against the poison equal to 1 + the essentia invested in your gloves, and each point of invested essentia causes its secondary damage to come 1 round later than normal. If your gloves are bound, each point of invested essentia also reduces any ability damage you would take from the poison’s initial effect by 1 point; if it deals multiple kinds of ability damage, allocate the reduction as desired.
Soul-Poisoning Blow (Strike): Your weapon is sheathed in glowing green venom. As part of this maneuver, you attempt to deliver the poison effect of your gloves. Instead of a melee touch attack, make one normal melee attack. If you hit, you deal normal damage and also deliver the poison. You can’t initiate this strike if you’ve already used your gloves’ poison this round.
Absorb Poison (Counter) [Hands Chakra]: You can initiate this counter when you successfully save against poison (or are immune to it). The next time within 1 hour that you use your gloves’ soulmeld effect, including with soul-poisoning blow, you can choose to deliver a poison identical to the triggering poison. Use the DC of the soulmeld or the triggering poison, whichever is higher. Your gloves can hold multiple poisons, providing you more options the next time you use their soulmeld effect, but once you do, all absorbed poisons dissipate.
Heavenly Impulse Footwork (Stance): While you’re in this stance, you gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC until the start of the next round every time an attack misses you.
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In addition, if your boots are bound, you may take a free 5-foot step whenever your dodge bonuses (from any source) make the difference in an attack missing you.
Impulsive Dash (Counter): As part of this counter, you spend a move action to move up to your speed (the maneuver still takes an immediate action to initiate). You can’t Tumble or Jump as part of this movement. To initiate this maneuver, you must have a move action remaining to spend.
Impulsive Steps (Boost): For 1 round per point of essentia invested in your boots when you initiate this maneuver, you may take a free 5-foot step whenever your dodge bonuses (from any source) make the difference in an attack missing you.
Impulsive Strike (Strike): Make a single melee attack. You can initiate this maneuver at an initiative count up to 2 higher than your actual initiative per point of invested essentia. You must do this after anyone whose real initiative equals that value has acted.
Evasive Roll (Counter) [Feet Chakra]: You can initiate this maneuver when you’re targeted by an effect that requires a Reflex save to which your evasion ability would apply. As part of this maneuver, you move up 5 feet + 5 feet per invested essentia without provoking attacks of opportunity. (If this takes you out of the triggering effect’s area or range, you’re no longer subject to the effect, but if it doesn’t, then because initiating this maneuver suppresses the benefit of your boots, you don’t gain the benefit of their evasion ability against the triggering effect.)
Impulse Surge (Rush) [Feet Chakra]: Move up to your speed. You don’t provoke attacks of opportunity with this movement. For 1 round, you gain a dodge bonus to AC equal to the number of creatures from whom your movement would have normally provoked attacks of opportunity, +1 per point of invested essentia.
Martial Soulmeld: Lightning Fox
Birthluck (Utility): Two full-round actions. As part of this maneuver, reroll your base (before racial modifiers) ability scores, using 4d6 drop the lowest, in order from Strength to Charisma. Lasts until recovered or dismissed. Your altered scores don’t let you qualify for permanent decisions such as feats or classes, but they can make you ineligible for feats you possess. Usable a number of times per day equal to the essentia cap of this maneuver.
Fate-Eager Hazard (Boost): You can use this boost before you make a d20 roll that will be affected by the bonus from your lucky dice. You can make the roll twice and choose the better result. However, if either roll is a natural 1, the roll counts as a natural 1.
If your dice are bound and invested with at least 3 essentia, you can choose to roll 3d20 and take the best result. Again, if any of the dice come up 1, you must use that result. Increase to 4 essentia? Delete?
Hail Pelor (Boost): You have a 25% chance of being able to perform two other swift actions. If your dice are bound, each point of invested essentia increases your chances by 2.5%.
Lucky Strike (Strike): Make a single melee or ranged attack. You have a 50% chance of hitting, minus 5% for each HD more than you target has or plus 5% for each HD they have less than you. Miss chance and concealment apply normally.
Sway Fate’s Hand (Counter) [Hands Chakra]: As fate-eager hazard (minus its chakra benefit), but applies to an ally when they make a roll boosted by your lucky dice.
Martial Soulmeld: Coin's Edge
Mauling Bull (Strike): As the charging minotaur maneuver, but you gain the normal bonus your gauntlets would provide on the bull rush attempt, and the bludgeoning damage you deal equals 1d8 + 1d8 per invested essentia + your Strength modifier.
Pulverizing Blow (Strike): Make a single melee attack with a two-handed weapon, slam attack or gore attack. If you have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, you can also use an unarmed strike. Your attack ignores the hardness of objects and the damage reduction of constructs, and deals an additional 2d6 damage per invested essentia. If your gauntlets are bound, you retain their chakra benefit until this maneuver is resolved.
Tossing Bull (Strike): Full-round action. Attempt a bull rush that isn’t part of a charge; if you succeed, you can immediately attempt another bull rush against a different target as part of the same action. In neither case do you need to follow the opponents you bull rush if you succeed. A creature you knock into a solid object takes 1d6 damage. If your gauntlets are bound, they instead take damage equal to 1d8 + 1d8 per invested essentia + your Strength modifier.
Wrecker (Boost): For two rounds, all structures and unattended objects within your melee reach take half the damage of all melee attacks you make against targets within your melee reach.
Devastating Blow (Strike) [Arms Chakra]: Make a single melee attack. It automatically threatens a critical hit, and ignores a creature’s natural immunity to critical hits (but not immunity gained from items).
Mauling Brawler (Stance) [Hands Chakra]: When you enter this stance, your blue metallic fists grow spikes and are swathed in incarnum vapor. You gain two primary slam attacks that deal 1d6 crushing and piercing damage for a Medium creature and have an effective hardness of 10 for the purpose of sundering and attacking objects. Each point of invested essentia increases their hardness by 3 points. If you hit a creature with both of your slam attacks as part of the same full attack, you can choose to knock them back 5 feet per point of invested essentia, -5 feet per size category larger than you they are. If this causes them to hit an object, they take 1d8 + your Strength modifier damage. If made as a charge attack, a single successful slam attack is sufficient to trigger the knockback effect.
Martial Soulmeld: Stone Dragon
Arcane Protection (Stance): You, and all allies within 10 feet of you per point of invested essentia, gain a +2 insight bonus on saves against magical effects. If your shirt is bound, the bonus increases to +3.
Blast Warding (Stance): You gain a +2 bonus to AC against attacks made as part of spells and psionic powers. The bonus increases by 1 per point of invested essentia. In addition, if your shirt is bound, a creature who misses you with a spell attack suffers a -1 penalty to their caster level or manifester level, which lasts for a number of rounds equal to the number of points by which they missed your AC. Concurrent penalties imposed by this maneuver stack.
Magebreaker Blow (Strike): Make a single melee attack. If you hit and the target has any ability to cast spells, they lose a spell slot or prepared spell as if they had suffered a negative level, except that the maximum spell or slot level you can drain equals 1st + 2 levels per invested essentia. If your shirt is bound, the target must also make a Will save or suffer disadvantage on Concentration checks for 1 round per invested essentia.
Soulform Resumption (Counter): As part of this maneuver, you make a saving throw against an unfriendly transmutation spell that has been affecting you for 1 round or more. Even if the spell doesn’t normally allow a save, you can make a Will save to end it. You can toggle this maneuver to trigger automatically if you’re subject to an effect that would normally leave you incapable of initiating it (like flesh to stone). In that case, however, the maneuver doesn’t take effect until you have been subject to the triggering effect for 1 minute. (The automatic trigger function doesn’t work if your spellward shirt is deactivated because one of its other granted maneuvers is expended.)
Spellward Shielding (Boost): For 1 round, you gain spell resistance equal to what your spellward shirt would normally provide, with an additional +2 per point of invested essentia. In addition, any assay spell resistance spell focused upon you is ineffective during this time. If your shirt is bound, anyone who tries and fails to overcome your SR during this maneuver is stunned for 1 round.
Spellward Sigil (Utility): Standard action. The swirling patterns on your shirt exude to form a swirling blue pattern in the air or on the ground beneath you, creating a fixed spherical area whose diameter is 10 feet plus 5 feet per invested essentia. At least part of the area must be adjacent to you when you create it; it can overlap spaces you currently occupy. Your allies who are at within or partially within this area gain the spell resistance your shirt would normally provide. Lasts until recovered.
Acquired Spell Immunity (Counter) [Heart Chakra]: You can initiate this counter when you are targeted by a spell of 6th level or lower that your shirt’s spell immunity effect doesn’t protect against. You replace one of your chosen spell immunities with the triggering spell. (Because initiating this maneuver deactivates your soulmeld, you don’t actually gain the benefit of this immunity against the triggering instance of that spell.)
Martial Soulmeld: [Antimagic discipline]
Thunderbash (Boost): You can use this boost when you hit a creature with an attack augmented by your boots. The target is knocked back as by the Awesome Blow feat, except that they are knocked back 5 feet + 5 feet per point of invested essentia, and they may be up to one size category larger than normal per point of invested essentia, +1 if your boots are bound.
Thundering Blows (Boost): The next melee attack you make within 1 round is treated as enhanced by the thunderstep boots soulmeld, even if it isn’t a charge attack.
Thundering Stomp (Strike): Creatures and objects within 5 feet of you, +5 feet per invested essentia, take 1d4 sonic damage, +1d4 per point of invested essentia. If your thunderstep boots are bound, affected creatures must make a Fortitude save or be stunned for 1 round. You must be standing on a solid surface to initiate this maneuver.
Thunderous Impact (Rush): Move up to your speed. If you end your movement by moving via the Jump skill and landing on solid ground, creatures and objects within 5 feet of you are affected as by thundering stomp, but the range doesn't increase with invested essentia. At 15th level the range increases to 10 feet.
Thunderous Landing (Counter): You can initiate this maneuver when you land after falling. Creatures and objects within 5 feet of you are affected as by thundering stomp, except that you can't damage and range benefits of more than 1 point of invested essentia per 50 feet you just fell. Distance fallen while under a slow fall or feather fall effect doesn’t count toward this or toward damage, only distance fallen in a single continuous plummet.
Thunderkick (Counter) [Feet Chakra]: Make an unarmed strike against the target with your foot. The attack is enhanced as by a chakra-bound thunderstep boots soulmeld.
Billowing Cloak, Heavenly Step (Stance): Your cloak acts llike a parachute, reducing fall damage you take by 2d6 + 2d6 per point of invested essentia. Lethal damage is reduced first.
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Starting at 6th level, it allows you to glide, falling softly as with feather fall at a speed of up to 30 feet per round, +10 feet per invested essentia. For every foot you fall you move one foot horizontally. You must choose which horizontal direction to glide in when you begin your fall or when you enter this stance while falling. Leaving this stance while gliding causes you to begin falling (and re-acquiring velocity) as normal, but if the distance of your fall gives you another turn before hitting the ground, you can re-enter it to begin gliding in a new direction.
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If your cloak is bound, then while gliding, you can spend a move action to create a gust of wind that propels you 10 feet per invested essentia in a direction of your choice. If you choose a horizontal direction, the horizontal momentum of your glide changes to match.
Living Cloak (Boost): Your cloak tries to grapple or disarm a creature. It provokes no attack of opportunity for doing so. Its bonus on these checks equals your base attack bonus plus the essentia invested in it, and it can’t deal grapple damage. Alternately, as part of this maneuver, it can perform one simple task that an unseen servant could perform, except that the force it can exert is 5 pounds, +5 pounds per essentia invested in it. It has a reach of 5 feet.
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If your cloak is bound, you can initiate this maneuver as an immediate action counter.
Soulstorm Gust (Strike): You create a blast of strong wind in a 10-foot cone or 20-foot line. Each point of invested essentia increases the severity of the wind by one category, and optionally results in a 5-foot-longer cone or 10-foot-longer line (the area can be any size up to the maximum). ko]0The Fortitude DC to resist the winds is the normal DC or the DC of this maneuver, whichever is higher. Creatures whose alignments oppose yours take a -2 penalty on their save per axis of opposition. If you’re opposed to them on one axis, any damage they take from the wind is maximized. If you’re opposed on both axes, so is the distance it blows them.
Winds of the Soul (Rush): Move your speed. Each space you leave is filled with a wind wall effect. The effect lasts 1 round, +1 round per invested essentia, or until dismissed. Initiating this maneuver again before it ends terminates the previous instance.
Send Back the Arrows (Boost/Counter) [Shoulders Chakra]: While you have this maneuver available, any projectiles your wind cloak deflects are not immediately swept away, but spend a few seconds swirling in the wreath of wind your cloak creates.
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When you initiate this maneuver as a boost, any projectiles your cloak has deflected within the past 1 round attack your choice of targets within close range. Their attack bonus equals your base attack bonus, +1 per point of invested essentia, plus any bonuses the projectile itself possesses. You don’t have to fire all of the projectiles.
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Alternately, you can initiate this maneuver as a counter when your cloak deflects a projectile. You swirl around and it is sent back at whoever fired it, regardless of distance, attacking them as above.
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Bullets retargeted when this maneuver is used as a boost don’t target touch AC and deal damage as arrows, since they’ve lost their momentum.
Martial Soulmeld: Desert Wind, [Air] maneuvers only. Many new [Air] maneuvers have been added to the discipline in Age of Warriors.
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PEACH
Glimbur
2020-10-20, 09:31 AM
You could slap a minimum meldshaper level on some of the maneuvers. That lets melds grow in power as you take more levels, apart from gaining more binds and essentia. The main downside is it's another thing to write and balance.
I'm a little concerned that having maneuvers turn off your soulmelds makes the class too weak. A totemist or incarnate can lean on their melds without turning them off, a martial adept does not weaken themselves as they use maneuvers. A full on hybrid like totemist with full swordsage maneuvers would be stronger than either base class, but I think there is room to offer limited soulmelds and limited martial initiating without putting them in such direct conflict.
The smite-like ability... I'm not sure if it is too weak or too strong. +1d6 at first level is nice (assuming get an essentia point via race or feat), but you don't get more damage until 6th level when +3d6 1/round and only not with maneuvers is... not great. And by 18th level when you get +10d6 you could instead use maneuvers and do more. But it's reliable damage which does not turn off your soulmelds. Maybe it's ok as is.
Elves
2020-10-20, 02:33 PM
You could slap a minimum meldshaper level on some of the maneuvers.
Yeah, you could give each meld a progression of a 1st-level maneuver equivalent, a 3rd, a 5th, etc, which you progressively unlock.
I'm a little concerned that having maneuvers turn off your soulmelds makes the class too weak.
The gameplay idea is "you have passive buffs that you can temporarily forgo in exchange for using a stronger active ability". In principle that works fine, though the balance may be off. There are also many different ways you could implement that idea in a class.
I think there is room to offer limited soulmelds and limited martial initiating without putting them in such direct conflict.
Having both subsystems straight-up would probably make the class too cluttered.
But sure, you could have maneuvers that interact with your melds. Make an attack, if you hit gain 1 temporary essentia point. But then can you also invest essentia in those maneuvers?
I had a whole discipline on the meta-incarnum theme but I felt the soulmeld-themed maneuvers were pretty cool. Combining both in the same class might be hard to keep simple.
The smite-like ability...
They get expanded capacity at 3rd. It's meant to be in line with the bonus damage you'd get from a vanilla maneuver at your level when you cap it. The intent is you always have a basic offensive capacity, so that damage boosts don't have to be built into the soulmeld maneuvers.
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