MythMage
2008-10-01, 04:39 PM
Some thoughts on making incarnum more interesting and better-suited for inclusion in the Great Wheel cosmology...
I suggest linking incarnum with ley lines, since both deal notably with souls and they have suitably similar concepts. I detail the link in this post (http://dicefreaks.forumz.cc/viewtopic.php?p=32518#p32518) on a thread detailing mechanics and fluff for ley lines (http://dicefreaks.forumz.cc/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=189&start=0).
Another thing to spice things up stylistically... I would incorporate more colors than just blue. Perhaps blue for Outer-Planar linked incarnum, but green for Material Plane linked incarnum and red for that of the Inner Planes.
More mechanically, I think some variety would help improve the system's appeal. In addition to souls of the Outer Planes and alignment (incarnates) and of the Material Plane (totemists), I suggest adding a class that draws from the souls of the Inner Planes (such as elementals and genies).
The simplest way to add such a class would be to adapt another one. Here's my quick fix in that regard (though a more completely distinct class would probably be preferable):
VARIANT INCARNATE: ELEMENTAL AVATAR
As the incarnate (MoI 20) embodies an alignment and shapes raw good, evil, law, or chaos to his will, so the elemental avatar embodies an element and shapes raw air, earth, fire, or water to his will.
Alignment: Any. Morality and ethics have nothing to do with drawing on the elements.
Class Skills: An elemental avatar removes Knowledge (religion) from his list of class skills.
Class Features
The elemental avatar has all the standard incarnate class features, except as noted here.
Aura and Detect Opposition: An elemental avatar gains neither of these abilities.
Elemental Soulmelds: Instead of being bound by the alignment descriptors of his soulmelds, the elemental avatar is bound by their elemental and energy descriptors. Every elemental avatar must choose a single element (either air, earth, fire, or water) to exemplify. The elemental avatar cannot shape a soulmeld that has the air descriptor unless he is an air avatar; similarly for earth, fire, and water soulmelds. He cannot shape a soulmeld with the acid descriptor unless he is either a water or earth avatar. He cannot shape a cold soulmeld unless is an air or water avatar. He cannot shape an electricity soulmeld unless he is an air avatar. He cannot shape a sonic soulmeld if he is a fire avatar.
Incarnum Radiance: Since an elemental avatar's power derives from element rather than alignment, his benefit from incarnum radiance is determined accordingly. An air avatar increases his speed as per a chaotic incarnate, an earth avatar increases his Armor Class as per a good incarnate, a fire avatar increases his melee damage rolls as per an evil incarnate, and a water avatar increases his melee attack bonus as per a lawful incarnate.
True Avatar: Rather than becoming an outsider upon reaching 20th level, an elemental incarnate becomes an elemental creature with the subtype matching his chosen element.
Ex-Elemental Avatars
It is not possible to become an ex-elemental avatar as one may become an ex-incarnate.
Elemental Avatar Meldshape List
Crown Chakra
Crystal Helm
Diadem of Purelight
Frost Helm
Necrocarnum Circlet
Soulspeaker Circlet
Feet Chakra
Acrobat Boots
Airstep Sandals (A)
Cerulean Sandals (W)
Impulse Boots
Feet of Clay*
Thunderstep Boots
Urskan Greaves (C)
Hands Chakra
Kruthik Claws
Lightning Gauntlets
Lucky Dice
Mauling Gauntlets
Sighting Gloves
Arms Chakra
Bluesteel Bracers
Kraken Mantle (W)
Lifebond Vestments
Mauling Gauntlets
Brow Chakra
Illusion Veil
Keeneye Lenses
Mage's Spectacles
Reality Robe*
Silvertongue Mask
Truthseeker Goggles
Yrthak Mask
Shoulders Chakra
Kruthik Claws
Mantle of Flame
Necrocarnum Mantle
Pauldrons of Health
Phase Cloak
Therapeutic Mantle
Wind Cloak (A)
Throat Chakra
Ankheg Breastplate
Apparition Ribbon
Arcane Focus
Behir Gorget
Dissolving Spittle
Gorgon Mask (E)
Planar Ward
Ravid Choker*
Silvertongue Mask
Soulspeaker Circlet
Winter Mask
Waist Chakra
Flame Cincture (F)
Heart of Fire
Necrocarnum Vestments
Phoenix Belt
Strongheart Vest
Vitality Belt
Heart Chakra
Lifebond Vestments
Necrocarnum Vestments
Spellward Shirt
Feet of Clay*
Strongheart Vest
Soul Chakra
Fellmist Robe
Keeney Lenses
Reality Robe*
***
* New soulmeld.
(A) Though not normally possessing it, this soulmeld has the air descriptor when shaped by an elemental avatar.
(C) Though not normally possessing it, this soulmeld has the cold descriptor when shaped by an elemental avatar.
(E) Though not normally possessing it, this soulmeld has the earth descriptor when shaped by an elemental avatar.
(F) Though not normally possessing it, this soulmeld has the fire descriptor when shaped by an elemental avatar.
(W) Though not normally possessing it, this soulmeld has the water descriptor when shaped by an elemental avatar.
FEET OF CLAY
Descriptors: Earth
Classes: Elemental avatar
Chakra: Feet or heart
Saving Throw: None
Mud and dirt cling to your feet as if you had walked through a riverbed all day, but the earth is slightly translucent.
Earth elementals are notorious for their stability, and are the principle sources of incarnum for earth avatars.
You gain earth mastery. This bestows on you a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls and opposed Strength checks if both you and your foe are touching the ground. If an opponent is airborne or waterborne, you take a -4 penalty on attack and damage rolls and opposed Strength checks.
Essentia: Increase the bonus on attack and damage by +1 for every point of essentia invested in your feet of clay.
Chakra Bind (Feet)
Mud and earth coat your feet and lower legs, seeming to merge with your skin where it touches.
You can start a bull rush without provoking attacks of opportunity. Treat yourself as one size category larger than you really are (to a maximum of Colossal) for each point of essentia invested in your feet of clay.
Chakra Bind (Heart)
Rock and soil coat your skin, becoming indistinguishable from it. Your limbs are barely touched, but it grows toward your body; your torso is almost unrecognizable beneath the earthen mass.
Your type changes to elemental, granting you all the traits of that type. You gain the earth subtype. If you are already of the elemental (earth) type and subtype, instead you gain damage reduction 3/- which stacks with other forms of impenetrable damage reduction. Increase the value of the damage reduction by 1 per point of essentia invested in your feet of clay.
RAVID CHOKER
Descriptors: None
Classes: Elemental avatar
Chakra: Throat
Saving Throw: See text
Translucent ivory scales glitter in the air around your neck.
Ravids, native to the Positive Energy Plane, are infused with the power of positive energy. Elemental avatars use its power to combat undead and to gain temporary allies.
Whenever you strike an undead creature with a melee attack, you deal an additional 2 points of positive energy damage to it. Living creatures experience the energy only as an unpleasant tingling sensation.
Essentia: Increase the damage bonus by +2 for every point of essentia invested in your ravid choker.
Chakra Bind (Throat)
Your choker merges with your neck, making it slightly thinner, longer, and more serpentine. The glossy scales are cooler than the skin they have replaced.
As long as you have at least 1 point of essentia invested in your ravid choker and fewer hit points than one-half your maximum, you gain fast healing equal to the number of points of essentia invested.
You can unshape your ravid choker as a standard action in order to replicate the effects of animate objects. Your caster level for this effect is equal to the number of essentia invested in the ravid choker plus one-half your meldshaper level.
REALITY ROBE
Descriptors: Air, Earth, Fire, or Water
Classes: Elemental avatar
Chakra: Brow or soul
Saving Throw: None
Raw element coalesces into a robe over top of your equipment, woven together and supported by shining streams of incarnum.
Formed from the substance of an Elemental Plane of your choice, the reality robe grants you the power of that Reality.
You are considered a native of any plane with the elemental trait matching your chosen element. While on such a plane, you ignore the effect of any or all its elemental and energy traits, as you wish. Additionally, you gain resistance to energy 10. The form of energy depends upon your chosen element: air - electricity, earth - acid, fire - fire, water - cold.
Essentia: Increase the energy resistance you gain by +5 for every point of essentia invested in your reality robe.
Chakra Bind (Brow)
When you evoke your incarnum radiance, the light courses through the strands of incarnum in the robe, magnifying it.
Increase the bonus granted by your incarnum radiance by 1.
Chakra Bind (Soul)
The threads in your robe move and dance, depicting scenes from planes beyond the Mortal Coil.
Once per week, you can open a gate to any plane with the elemental trait matching your chosen element. Activating this ability costs 1,000 XP if you use the calling creatures function of gate.
I suggest linking incarnum with ley lines, since both deal notably with souls and they have suitably similar concepts. I detail the link in this post (http://dicefreaks.forumz.cc/viewtopic.php?p=32518#p32518) on a thread detailing mechanics and fluff for ley lines (http://dicefreaks.forumz.cc/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=189&start=0).
Another thing to spice things up stylistically... I would incorporate more colors than just blue. Perhaps blue for Outer-Planar linked incarnum, but green for Material Plane linked incarnum and red for that of the Inner Planes.
More mechanically, I think some variety would help improve the system's appeal. In addition to souls of the Outer Planes and alignment (incarnates) and of the Material Plane (totemists), I suggest adding a class that draws from the souls of the Inner Planes (such as elementals and genies).
The simplest way to add such a class would be to adapt another one. Here's my quick fix in that regard (though a more completely distinct class would probably be preferable):
VARIANT INCARNATE: ELEMENTAL AVATAR
As the incarnate (MoI 20) embodies an alignment and shapes raw good, evil, law, or chaos to his will, so the elemental avatar embodies an element and shapes raw air, earth, fire, or water to his will.
Alignment: Any. Morality and ethics have nothing to do with drawing on the elements.
Class Skills: An elemental avatar removes Knowledge (religion) from his list of class skills.
Class Features
The elemental avatar has all the standard incarnate class features, except as noted here.
Aura and Detect Opposition: An elemental avatar gains neither of these abilities.
Elemental Soulmelds: Instead of being bound by the alignment descriptors of his soulmelds, the elemental avatar is bound by their elemental and energy descriptors. Every elemental avatar must choose a single element (either air, earth, fire, or water) to exemplify. The elemental avatar cannot shape a soulmeld that has the air descriptor unless he is an air avatar; similarly for earth, fire, and water soulmelds. He cannot shape a soulmeld with the acid descriptor unless he is either a water or earth avatar. He cannot shape a cold soulmeld unless is an air or water avatar. He cannot shape an electricity soulmeld unless he is an air avatar. He cannot shape a sonic soulmeld if he is a fire avatar.
Incarnum Radiance: Since an elemental avatar's power derives from element rather than alignment, his benefit from incarnum radiance is determined accordingly. An air avatar increases his speed as per a chaotic incarnate, an earth avatar increases his Armor Class as per a good incarnate, a fire avatar increases his melee damage rolls as per an evil incarnate, and a water avatar increases his melee attack bonus as per a lawful incarnate.
True Avatar: Rather than becoming an outsider upon reaching 20th level, an elemental incarnate becomes an elemental creature with the subtype matching his chosen element.
Ex-Elemental Avatars
It is not possible to become an ex-elemental avatar as one may become an ex-incarnate.
Elemental Avatar Meldshape List
Crown Chakra
Crystal Helm
Diadem of Purelight
Frost Helm
Necrocarnum Circlet
Soulspeaker Circlet
Feet Chakra
Acrobat Boots
Airstep Sandals (A)
Cerulean Sandals (W)
Impulse Boots
Feet of Clay*
Thunderstep Boots
Urskan Greaves (C)
Hands Chakra
Kruthik Claws
Lightning Gauntlets
Lucky Dice
Mauling Gauntlets
Sighting Gloves
Arms Chakra
Bluesteel Bracers
Kraken Mantle (W)
Lifebond Vestments
Mauling Gauntlets
Brow Chakra
Illusion Veil
Keeneye Lenses
Mage's Spectacles
Reality Robe*
Silvertongue Mask
Truthseeker Goggles
Yrthak Mask
Shoulders Chakra
Kruthik Claws
Mantle of Flame
Necrocarnum Mantle
Pauldrons of Health
Phase Cloak
Therapeutic Mantle
Wind Cloak (A)
Throat Chakra
Ankheg Breastplate
Apparition Ribbon
Arcane Focus
Behir Gorget
Dissolving Spittle
Gorgon Mask (E)
Planar Ward
Ravid Choker*
Silvertongue Mask
Soulspeaker Circlet
Winter Mask
Waist Chakra
Flame Cincture (F)
Heart of Fire
Necrocarnum Vestments
Phoenix Belt
Strongheart Vest
Vitality Belt
Heart Chakra
Lifebond Vestments
Necrocarnum Vestments
Spellward Shirt
Feet of Clay*
Strongheart Vest
Soul Chakra
Fellmist Robe
Keeney Lenses
Reality Robe*
***
* New soulmeld.
(A) Though not normally possessing it, this soulmeld has the air descriptor when shaped by an elemental avatar.
(C) Though not normally possessing it, this soulmeld has the cold descriptor when shaped by an elemental avatar.
(E) Though not normally possessing it, this soulmeld has the earth descriptor when shaped by an elemental avatar.
(F) Though not normally possessing it, this soulmeld has the fire descriptor when shaped by an elemental avatar.
(W) Though not normally possessing it, this soulmeld has the water descriptor when shaped by an elemental avatar.
FEET OF CLAY
Descriptors: Earth
Classes: Elemental avatar
Chakra: Feet or heart
Saving Throw: None
Mud and dirt cling to your feet as if you had walked through a riverbed all day, but the earth is slightly translucent.
Earth elementals are notorious for their stability, and are the principle sources of incarnum for earth avatars.
You gain earth mastery. This bestows on you a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls and opposed Strength checks if both you and your foe are touching the ground. If an opponent is airborne or waterborne, you take a -4 penalty on attack and damage rolls and opposed Strength checks.
Essentia: Increase the bonus on attack and damage by +1 for every point of essentia invested in your feet of clay.
Chakra Bind (Feet)
Mud and earth coat your feet and lower legs, seeming to merge with your skin where it touches.
You can start a bull rush without provoking attacks of opportunity. Treat yourself as one size category larger than you really are (to a maximum of Colossal) for each point of essentia invested in your feet of clay.
Chakra Bind (Heart)
Rock and soil coat your skin, becoming indistinguishable from it. Your limbs are barely touched, but it grows toward your body; your torso is almost unrecognizable beneath the earthen mass.
Your type changes to elemental, granting you all the traits of that type. You gain the earth subtype. If you are already of the elemental (earth) type and subtype, instead you gain damage reduction 3/- which stacks with other forms of impenetrable damage reduction. Increase the value of the damage reduction by 1 per point of essentia invested in your feet of clay.
RAVID CHOKER
Descriptors: None
Classes: Elemental avatar
Chakra: Throat
Saving Throw: See text
Translucent ivory scales glitter in the air around your neck.
Ravids, native to the Positive Energy Plane, are infused with the power of positive energy. Elemental avatars use its power to combat undead and to gain temporary allies.
Whenever you strike an undead creature with a melee attack, you deal an additional 2 points of positive energy damage to it. Living creatures experience the energy only as an unpleasant tingling sensation.
Essentia: Increase the damage bonus by +2 for every point of essentia invested in your ravid choker.
Chakra Bind (Throat)
Your choker merges with your neck, making it slightly thinner, longer, and more serpentine. The glossy scales are cooler than the skin they have replaced.
As long as you have at least 1 point of essentia invested in your ravid choker and fewer hit points than one-half your maximum, you gain fast healing equal to the number of points of essentia invested.
You can unshape your ravid choker as a standard action in order to replicate the effects of animate objects. Your caster level for this effect is equal to the number of essentia invested in the ravid choker plus one-half your meldshaper level.
REALITY ROBE
Descriptors: Air, Earth, Fire, or Water
Classes: Elemental avatar
Chakra: Brow or soul
Saving Throw: None
Raw element coalesces into a robe over top of your equipment, woven together and supported by shining streams of incarnum.
Formed from the substance of an Elemental Plane of your choice, the reality robe grants you the power of that Reality.
You are considered a native of any plane with the elemental trait matching your chosen element. While on such a plane, you ignore the effect of any or all its elemental and energy traits, as you wish. Additionally, you gain resistance to energy 10. The form of energy depends upon your chosen element: air - electricity, earth - acid, fire - fire, water - cold.
Essentia: Increase the energy resistance you gain by +5 for every point of essentia invested in your reality robe.
Chakra Bind (Brow)
When you evoke your incarnum radiance, the light courses through the strands of incarnum in the robe, magnifying it.
Increase the bonus granted by your incarnum radiance by 1.
Chakra Bind (Soul)
The threads in your robe move and dance, depicting scenes from planes beyond the Mortal Coil.
Once per week, you can open a gate to any plane with the elemental trait matching your chosen element. Activating this ability costs 1,000 XP if you use the calling creatures function of gate.