Two Incarnum questions

[Chronos]

I was recently re-reading through Magic of Incarnum, and man, there are some ambiguities in there.

First, the Share Soulmeld feat:

You can share a soulmeld with an ally with which you have a special bond.
Prerequisite: Ability to shape soulmelds and a familiar, animal companion, or mount with whom you can share spells.
Benefit: At your option, any soulmeld shaped by you and currently affecting you can also affect your familiar, animal companion, or mount. The creature in question must remain within 5 feet of you to receive the benefit. If the creature leaves this radius of effect, it loses the benefits of the soulmeld until such time as it returns within 5 feet.
First of all, how does it affect your familiar? It sounds like your familiar gains the the same benefits that you do, which would mean that it also gets the effects of any chakra you might have it bound to, and whatever essentia you've put into it. Or does it just get the base effect?

Does it take any sort of action to do this? What if you're separated from your familiar and then come back together-- Does it take any action to restore it?

Can you share multiple soulmelds with your familiar? All of them? What if you have multiple companions (a wizard/druid/incarnate, say)-- Can you share with all of them at once?

Second question: Multiclassed incarnate characters. The general soulmeld rules on page 50 (under "Chakras") say that you can't shape two soulmelds that occupy the same chakra. However, the multiclassing rules (page 20) say that if you multiclasss in two incarnum-using classes, your meldshaping abilities remain completely separate. The multiclassing rules then go on to say that (like a single-classed character) you can't bind two soulmelds to the same chakra, but they don't say anything about them merely occupying the same chakra. If the two abilities are in fact completely separate, does that mean that a multiclassed meldshaper can have one meld from each of their classes occupying each of their chakras?

Third question: The totem chakra. Page 51 states that when a totemist binds a meld to their totem chakra, it still occupies one of the ten ordinary chakras. Assuming that you have enough binds available and the appropriate chakra opened, is it possible to bind the same soulmeld to both your totem chakra, and the chakra which it occupies?

[Tzardok]

I was recently re-reading through Magic of Incarnum, and man, there are some ambiguities in there.

First, the Share Soulmeld feat:

First of all, how does it affect your familiar? It sounds like your familiar gains the the same benefits that you do, which would mean that it also gets the effects of any chakra you might have it bound to, and whatever essentia you've put into it. Or does it just get the base effect?

Does it take any sort of action to do this? What if you're separated from your familiar and then come back together-- Does it take any action to restore it?

In my opinion, the feat takes its cues from the Share Spell ability, which allows you to automatically have any spell you cast on yourself also affect your animal companion. So I don't think it needs an action to activate or to reactivate (the last sentence " it loses the benefits of the soulmeld until such time as it returns within 5 feet." sounds to me like something that happens automatically).
I would also go with "the companion receives the same benefit you do".


Can you share multiple soulmelds with your familiar? All of them? What if you have multiple companions (a wizard/druid/incarnate, say)-- Can you share with all of them at once?

I don't see anything in the description that keeps you from sharing multiple at once, or with multiple creatures at once.


Second question: Multiclassed incarnate characters. The general soulmeld rules on page 50 (under "Chakras") say that you can't shape two soulmelds that occupy the same chakra. However, the multiclassing rules (page 20) say that if you multiclasss in two incarnum-using classes, your meldshaping abilities remain completely separate. The multiclassing rules then go on to say that (like a single-classed character) you can't bind two soulmelds to the same chakra, but they don't say anything about them merely occupying the same chakra. If the two abilities are in fact completely separate, does that mean that a multiclassed meldshaper can have one meld from each of their classes occupying each of their chakras?

I would rule no. The text on page 50 has precedence. The whole "your meldshaping abilities remain completely separate" references IMO meldshaper level and other numerical stuff, like number of soulmelds you can shape at once. In that regard it is like spellcasting; if you have two caster classes, your abilities also "remain completely seperate", but that doesn't mean that if you cast Bull's Strength from one class and Bull's Strength from the other class that you get both bonuses, just because they are "seperate".


Third question: The totem chakra. Page 51 states that when a totemist binds a meld to their totem chakra, it still occupies one of the ten ordinary chakras. Assuming that you have enough binds available and the appropriate chakra opened, is it possible to bind the same soulmeld to both your totem chakra, and the chakra which it occupies?

Yes, but only if you are at least 11th class level. That's when you get the "Totem chakra bind (double bind)" ability.