PairO'Dice Lost
2008-12-12, 12:21 AM
Most if not all of the homebrewers here agree that the soulknife is sorely in need of a power boost; there are two or three fixes I've seen here in the past few days alone. However, I don't think these fixes go far enough; none of them is different enough from the base soulknife, I feel, and none is as powerful as it could be.
The soulknife as it is can basically be reduced to a feat tree, so I think a drastic redesign is called for. Thus, I present my take on it. It gives the soulknife a significant power boost, and I mean significant--if you think it makes core melee classes feel inadequate, that's a good thing. Without further ado...
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The Soulknife
{table=Table: The Soulknife]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|PP/Day
1st|+1|+2|+2|+2|Mental Weapon|0
2nd|+2|+3|+3|+3|Intellect Shield|1
3rd|+3|+3|+3|+3|Evasion|3
4th|+4|+4|+4|+4|Synaptic Strike|5
5th|+5|+4|+4|+4|Battle Mind|7
6th|+6/+1|+5|+5|+5|Thought Travel|11
7th|+7/+2|+5|+5|+5|Versatile Weapon|15
8th|+8/+3|+6|+6|+6|Dilate Shield|19
9th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+6|Mettle|23
10th|+10/+5|+7|+7|+7|Psychic Interference|27
11th|+11/+6/+1|+7|+7|+7|Weapon Storm|35
12th|+12/+7/+2|+8|+8|+8|Improved Evasion|43
13th|+13/+8/+3|+8|+8|+8|Perfect Strike|51
14th|+14/+9/+4|+9|+9|+9|Negate Psionics|59
15th|+15/+10/+5|+9|+9|+9|Improved Mettle|67
16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|+10|+10|+10|Temporal Buffer|79
17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|+10|+10|+10|Faster Than Thought|91
18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|+11|+11|+11|Mind Over Life|103
19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|+11|+11|+11|Mindseeking Strike|115
20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|+12|+12|+12|Mind Over Death|127
[/table]
Alignment
Any
Hit Die
d10
Class Skills
The soulknife’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at 1st Level
(4 + Int modifier) ×4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level
4 + Int modifier
Class Features
All the following are class features of the soulknife.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Soulknives are proficient only with their own mental weapons and intellect shields.
Power Points/Day
A soulknife cannot manifest powers, but he does gain a reserve of power points. His base daily allotment of power points is given on Table: The Soulknife. In addition, he receives bonus power points per day if he has a high Charisma score. His race may also provide bonus power points per day, as may certain feats and items. A 1st-level soulknife gains no power points for his class level, but he may gain bonus power points if he is entitled to any.
Mental Weapon (Su)
As a swift action, a soulknife can create a semisolid weapon composed of psychic energy distilled from his own mind. At first level, the soulknife chooses a number of simple or martial melee or ranged weapons equal to 5 + his Charisma modifier; he may shape his mental weapon to take on the form and traits of any of these weapons, and it functions in all ways as a normal weapon of its type. At each level beyond 1st, a soulknife may add one more weapon to his repertoire. If he creates a melee weapon, he may create two melee weapons at once with the same swift action, of the same or different types; if he creates a ranged weapon requiring ammunition, that ammunition is created as a free action whenever the weapon is fired. The soulknife can reshape his mental weapon into a different type of weapon with another swift action.
The weapon can be broken (it has hardness 10 and 10 hit points); however, a soulknife can simply create another on his next swift action. The moment he relinquishes his grip on his weapon, it dissipates, unless he intends to throw it. A mental weapon is considered a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
A soulknife’s mental weapon improves as the character gains higher levels. A mental weapon has a total magical enhancement bonus equal to his class level, which may be distributed among enhancement bonuses or special abilities as desired. These bonuses follow all of the normal rules for magical weapons (no more than a +5 enhancement bonus, total modifier no more than +10, etc.) When he creates melee weapons, he can split the bonuses between the two weapons (an 11th-level soulknife can only get a +10 on a single weapon, so he might want to manifest a +5 weapon and a +6 weapon, a +8 weapon and a +3 weapon, or any other combination adding up to +11). When he creates ranged weapons, he can split the bonuses between the ranged weapon and the ammunition (so the same 11th-level soulknife could create a +9 bow with +2 arrows, for instance). Special abilities may be drawn from the list of all magical and psionic weapon enhancements that are legal for a particular weapon—a soulknife could add the disruption ability to his weapon, but it would not function unless he shaped a bludgeoning weapon.
The enhancements a mental weapon has are determined after a soulknife rests for 8 hours, and they remain for the rest of the day; a soulknife must determine the enhancements for ranged weapons, ammunition, and both melee weapons at this time. If the soulknife wishes to change the enhancements of his mental weapon, he can take a standard action to do so; it costs him 2 power points per plus of enhancement he wishes to change, and the normal manifester level cap on power points spent on an ability applies.
Even in places where psionic effects do not normally function (such as within a null psionics field), a soulknife can attempt to sustain his mental weapon by making a DC 20 Will save. On a successful save, the soulknife maintains his mental weapon for a number of rounds equal to his class level before he needs to check again. On an unsuccessful attempt, the mental weapon vanishes. As a move action on his turn, the soulknife can attempt a new Will save to rematerialize his mental weapon while he remains within the psionics
negating effect.
Intellect Shield (Su)
As a swift action, a soulknife can create a semisolid shield or suit of armor composed of psychic energy distilled from his own mind. The suit of armor takes on the form and traits of any light or medium armor its wielder desires, and the shield may take on the traits of any type of shield, functioning in all ways as a normal shield or suit of armor of its type. The soulknife can reshape his intellect shield into a different type of shield or suit of armor with another swift action.
A soulknife’s intellect shield improves as the character gains higher levels. A intellect shield has a total magical enhancement bonus equal to his class level, which may be distributed among enhancement bonuses or special abilities as desired. These bonuses follow all of the normal rules for magical shields and armor (no more than a +5 enhancement bonus, total modifier no more than +10, etc.) When he creates both a shield and a suit of armor, he splits the bonuses between the two (an 11th-level soulknife can only get a +10 on a single suit of armor, so he might want to manifest a +5 shield and +6 armor, a +8 shield and +3 armor, or any other combination adding up to +11). Special abilities may be drawn from the list of all magical and psionic armor and shield enhancements that are legal for a particular type of shield or armor.
The enhancements a intellect shield has are determined after a soulknife rests for 8 hours, and they remain for the rest of the day; a soulknife must determine the enhancements for both his shield and armor at this time. If the soulknife wishes to change the enhancements of his intellect shield, he can take a standard action to do so; it costs him 2 power points per plus of enhancement he wishes to change, and the normal manifester level cap on power points spent on an ability applies.
Even in places where psionic effects do not normally function (such as within a null psionics field), a soulknife can attempt to sustain his intellect shield by making a DC 20 Will save. On a successful save, the soulknife maintains his armor and shield for a number of rounds equal to his class level before he needs to check again. On an unsuccessful attempt, the intellect shield vanishes. As a move action on his turn, the soulknife can attempt a new Will save to rematerialize his intellect shield while he remains within the psionics negating effect.
Evasion (Ex)
A soulknife can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used when the soulknife is using his intellect shield, but not in any other armor. A helpless soulknife does not gain the benefit of evasion.
Synaptic Strike (Su)
As a swift action, a soulknife of 3rd level or higher can imbue his mind blade with psychic energy that disrupts his target's mental processes. He chooses one effect from the list below, and every living, nonmindless target he successfully hits with a melee or ranged attack during his turn must make a successful saving throw against it (type and DC given in each ability description) or be subject to that effect. Creatures immune to mind-affecting effects are not immune to synaptic strike, as it effects their entire nervous system rather than just their mind, but they gain a +4 bonus on their saving throw.
Neural Disruption: The target must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or fall prone and be unable to stand up until the end of the soulknife's next turn.
Muscle Spasm: The target must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or be paralyzed for one round.
Mental Disconnect: The target must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or be dazed for one round.
System Failure: The target must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 15 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or be entangled for one round.
Psychosomatic Distress: The target must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 15 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or take 1d8 damage per two soulknife levels.
Sensory Deprivation: The target must succeed on a Will save (DC 15 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or be blinded and deafened for one round.
Battle Mind (Su)
Thanks to his extensive combat training, the soulknife's psionic senses and mental abilities are greatly enhanced over those of other psionicists. This has several effects: First, the soulknife gains Psionic Meditation as a bonus feat and gains the ability to hold two foci at once, as long as he has either his mental weapon or his intellect shield shaped (each of which he can gain with a move action by virtue of Psionic Meditation). Second, while he is psionically focused the soulknife gains telepathy with a range of 30 feet and the benefits of the Mindsight feat. Finally, if during a surprise round he would normally be surprised, as long as he is psionically focused the soulknife can make an opposed Concentration check against his enemy with the highest modifier to act normally that.
Thought Travel (Ps)
The soulknife gains the ability to use dimension slide and psionic dimension door at will as a psi-like abilities. He uses the abilities as if they were fully augmented (that is, he can manifest them using a move action if he so wishes).
Versatile Weapon (Ex)
As a soulknife grows more experienced with both melee and ranged combat, he becomes able to meld both into a single fighting style. A soulknife with this ability can apply melee weapon enchantments to ranged weapons and vice-versa, and he may use melee-only feats with a ranged mental weapon as well as ranged-only feats with a melee mental weapon—for instance, he could Power Attack with a bow or Rapid Shot with a sword. This ability only applies to his mental weapon and not any other weapons he may wield.
Dilate Shield (Ps)
As a soulknife's power increases, he can temporarily dilate his intellect shield, expanding it from armor form to a glowing nimbus that protects every part of his body more fully. Whenever the soulknife is attacked by a ranged attack (including ranged touch attacks) and he has his intellect shield shaped, he may attempt to deflect it by using up one of his attacks of opportunity for the round. He may declare that he is using this power after the attack successfully hits, but must choose to use it before the effects of the attack are resolved. The soulknife makes an attack roll (melee or ranged, soulknife's choice), and if the attack roll is higher then the enemy’s attack roll, the attack is negated. The soulknife cannot deflect a critical hit against him. This ability may be used as many times per round as desired, as long as the soulknife has sufficient attacks of opportunity to fuel this ability.
In addition, he can try to expand his intellect shield even further at the cost of additional psychic effort. As an immediate action, when he is the subject of an area attack the soulknife can attempt to block it or at least partially suppress it. If the soulknife is in the area of a line effect, the line fails to extend past his space, though he is still subject to the effect as normal; this option costs a number of power points equal to the save DC of the line, or if there is no save allowed, the hit dice of the effect's originator. If the soulknife is in the area of a cone, burst, or spread, he may choose a number of squares up to his Charisma modifier within reach to exclude from the area of the effect (not including his own space) this option costs a number of power points equal to the number of spaces excluded times ½ the save DC of the line, or if there is no save allowed, the number of squares times ½ the hit dice of the effect's originator.
Mettle (Ex)
A soulknife’s psychic strength allows him to shrug off magical effects that would otherwise harm him. If a soulknife makes a successful Will or Fortitude saving throw that would normally reduce an effect’s severity, he suffers no effect at all. Only effects with a saving throw entry of “Will partial,” “Fortitude half,” or similar entries can be negated through this ability.
Psychic Interference (Ps)
As soulknives' psionic strength grows, their ability to mess with their opponents minds is enhanced—literally. As an immediate action, a soulknife can expend his psionic focus and one or more power points in an attempt to disrupt an opponent's action with a burst of mental static, making a ranged touch attack against a single opponent within 30 feet. If the attack is successful, the target must make a Will or Fortitude save, target's choice (DC 10 + soulknife's Cha modifier + power points spent), or lose whatever action they were attempting—any spell slots or other limited-use abilities are expended, and the target may not choose to take another action in its place. The soulkife must attempt to disrupt an action as it is declared, meaning (among other things) that he may not foil a full attack or a charge action that began out of range.
Weapon Storm (Su)
Eventually, a soulknife gains the ability to momentarily fragment his mental weapon into numerous identical weapons, melee weapons striking all enemies within reach and ranged weapons firing bolt after bolt into foes at range.
As a full attack, when wielding his mental weapon a soulknife can give up his regular attacks and instead make one attack at his full base attack bonus against each opponent within range. If wielding a melee weapon, the soulknife can strike each enemy within reach; if wielding a ranged weapon, he may strike any opponent within the weapon's first range increment. Each fragment functions identically to the soulknife’s regular mental weapon.
When using his weapon storm, a soulknife forfeits any bonus or extra attacks granted by other feats or abilities (such as the Cleave feat or the haste spell). The mental weapon immediately reverts to its previous form after the weapon storm.
Improved Evasion (Ex)
This ability works like evasion, except that while the soulknife still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, henceforth he takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless soulknife does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.
Perfect Strike (Ex)
A soulknife can focus all his concentration and strength into a single blow. As a full-round action, a soulknife can expend his psionic focus to make a single melee or ranged attack that deals maximum damage. Extra damage dice from sneak attack or other sources are maximized along with normal weapon damage and any static bonuses, but this ability has no effect on a critical hit.
Negate Psionics (Ex)
No magical or psionic impediment can trouble a soulknife for long. As a standard action, a soulknife may spend 5 power points and make a melee or ranged touch attack to deliver a targeted dispel psionics power, which he may augment as normal for the power using his class level as his manifester level.
Improved Mettle (Ex)
This ability works like mettle, except that while the soulknife still takes no partial effect on a successful Fortitude or Will saving throw against attacks, henceforth he takes only the partial effect on a failed save. A helpless soulknife does not gain the benefit of improved mettle.
Temporal Buffer (Su)
A soulknife can shift himself to a faster time stream to gain an edge over his opponents. As long as he is psionically focused, he may take either one extra swift action or one extra immediate action each turn. If he uses two immediate actions in a round, then he must give up his swift and move actions on his next action unless he uses this ability on his next turn to gain (and give up) a second swift action.
Faster Than Thought (Su)
An experienced soulknife can attack fast enough to strike perfectly against every target he can reach. This ability functions as the Weapon Storm ability, except that the soulknife may expend his psionic focus to deal maximum damage on each attack as if using Perfect Strike against every opponent. This ability costs 1 power point per target so attacked.
Mind Over Life (Su)
As his mental strength approaches its apex, a soulknife can support and heal his body purely using psionic energy. As a move action, he can either grant himself 4 temporary hit points for every power point he spends or heal 3 hit points for every power point he spends.
Mindseeking Strike (Ex)
As a full-round action, a soulknife may expend his psionic focus and pay 20 power points to make a single melee or ranged attack that is treated as if the soulknife had rolled a natural 20 on the attack roll. Only living, nonmindless creatures may be affected by this ability. This ability is an exception to the rule that you may only spend power points equal to your manifester level at any given time.
Mind Over Death (Su)
When a soulknife has reached his ultimate potential, he is almost unstoppable; his mental weapon and intellect shield become an unconscious extension of his body and he can support his body with psionic energy long after others would have fallen ten times over. As long as a soulknife is psionically focused, he cannot die from hit point damage. In any round where the soulknife would be reduced to 0 hit points or lower, and in every round where the soulknife remains below 0 hit points, he may spend 2 power points to remain alive and conscious. He can still die from massive damage or any effects that do not deal hit point damage, and if the soulknife runs out of power points while below -10 hit points he immediately dies. A soulknife may not use any external source of power points to fuel this ability, such as a cognizance crystal, but may only use his own reserve.
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Thoughts? I tried to make "make your own weapons and armor" into a worthwhile schtick, so focusing on your weapon would be an asset rather than a handicap, and I added some abilities that are mostly in line with ToB stances and strikes...but I'm not quite sure of the balance. Any feedback is appreciated.
The soulknife as it is can basically be reduced to a feat tree, so I think a drastic redesign is called for. Thus, I present my take on it. It gives the soulknife a significant power boost, and I mean significant--if you think it makes core melee classes feel inadequate, that's a good thing. Without further ado...
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The Soulknife
{table=Table: The Soulknife]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|PP/Day
1st|+1|+2|+2|+2|Mental Weapon|0
2nd|+2|+3|+3|+3|Intellect Shield|1
3rd|+3|+3|+3|+3|Evasion|3
4th|+4|+4|+4|+4|Synaptic Strike|5
5th|+5|+4|+4|+4|Battle Mind|7
6th|+6/+1|+5|+5|+5|Thought Travel|11
7th|+7/+2|+5|+5|+5|Versatile Weapon|15
8th|+8/+3|+6|+6|+6|Dilate Shield|19
9th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+6|Mettle|23
10th|+10/+5|+7|+7|+7|Psychic Interference|27
11th|+11/+6/+1|+7|+7|+7|Weapon Storm|35
12th|+12/+7/+2|+8|+8|+8|Improved Evasion|43
13th|+13/+8/+3|+8|+8|+8|Perfect Strike|51
14th|+14/+9/+4|+9|+9|+9|Negate Psionics|59
15th|+15/+10/+5|+9|+9|+9|Improved Mettle|67
16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|+10|+10|+10|Temporal Buffer|79
17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|+10|+10|+10|Faster Than Thought|91
18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|+11|+11|+11|Mind Over Life|103
19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|+11|+11|+11|Mindseeking Strike|115
20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|+12|+12|+12|Mind Over Death|127
[/table]
Alignment
Any
Hit Die
d10
Class Skills
The soulknife’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at 1st Level
(4 + Int modifier) ×4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level
4 + Int modifier
Class Features
All the following are class features of the soulknife.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Soulknives are proficient only with their own mental weapons and intellect shields.
Power Points/Day
A soulknife cannot manifest powers, but he does gain a reserve of power points. His base daily allotment of power points is given on Table: The Soulknife. In addition, he receives bonus power points per day if he has a high Charisma score. His race may also provide bonus power points per day, as may certain feats and items. A 1st-level soulknife gains no power points for his class level, but he may gain bonus power points if he is entitled to any.
Mental Weapon (Su)
As a swift action, a soulknife can create a semisolid weapon composed of psychic energy distilled from his own mind. At first level, the soulknife chooses a number of simple or martial melee or ranged weapons equal to 5 + his Charisma modifier; he may shape his mental weapon to take on the form and traits of any of these weapons, and it functions in all ways as a normal weapon of its type. At each level beyond 1st, a soulknife may add one more weapon to his repertoire. If he creates a melee weapon, he may create two melee weapons at once with the same swift action, of the same or different types; if he creates a ranged weapon requiring ammunition, that ammunition is created as a free action whenever the weapon is fired. The soulknife can reshape his mental weapon into a different type of weapon with another swift action.
The weapon can be broken (it has hardness 10 and 10 hit points); however, a soulknife can simply create another on his next swift action. The moment he relinquishes his grip on his weapon, it dissipates, unless he intends to throw it. A mental weapon is considered a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
A soulknife’s mental weapon improves as the character gains higher levels. A mental weapon has a total magical enhancement bonus equal to his class level, which may be distributed among enhancement bonuses or special abilities as desired. These bonuses follow all of the normal rules for magical weapons (no more than a +5 enhancement bonus, total modifier no more than +10, etc.) When he creates melee weapons, he can split the bonuses between the two weapons (an 11th-level soulknife can only get a +10 on a single weapon, so he might want to manifest a +5 weapon and a +6 weapon, a +8 weapon and a +3 weapon, or any other combination adding up to +11). When he creates ranged weapons, he can split the bonuses between the ranged weapon and the ammunition (so the same 11th-level soulknife could create a +9 bow with +2 arrows, for instance). Special abilities may be drawn from the list of all magical and psionic weapon enhancements that are legal for a particular weapon—a soulknife could add the disruption ability to his weapon, but it would not function unless he shaped a bludgeoning weapon.
The enhancements a mental weapon has are determined after a soulknife rests for 8 hours, and they remain for the rest of the day; a soulknife must determine the enhancements for ranged weapons, ammunition, and both melee weapons at this time. If the soulknife wishes to change the enhancements of his mental weapon, he can take a standard action to do so; it costs him 2 power points per plus of enhancement he wishes to change, and the normal manifester level cap on power points spent on an ability applies.
Even in places where psionic effects do not normally function (such as within a null psionics field), a soulknife can attempt to sustain his mental weapon by making a DC 20 Will save. On a successful save, the soulknife maintains his mental weapon for a number of rounds equal to his class level before he needs to check again. On an unsuccessful attempt, the mental weapon vanishes. As a move action on his turn, the soulknife can attempt a new Will save to rematerialize his mental weapon while he remains within the psionics
negating effect.
Intellect Shield (Su)
As a swift action, a soulknife can create a semisolid shield or suit of armor composed of psychic energy distilled from his own mind. The suit of armor takes on the form and traits of any light or medium armor its wielder desires, and the shield may take on the traits of any type of shield, functioning in all ways as a normal shield or suit of armor of its type. The soulknife can reshape his intellect shield into a different type of shield or suit of armor with another swift action.
A soulknife’s intellect shield improves as the character gains higher levels. A intellect shield has a total magical enhancement bonus equal to his class level, which may be distributed among enhancement bonuses or special abilities as desired. These bonuses follow all of the normal rules for magical shields and armor (no more than a +5 enhancement bonus, total modifier no more than +10, etc.) When he creates both a shield and a suit of armor, he splits the bonuses between the two (an 11th-level soulknife can only get a +10 on a single suit of armor, so he might want to manifest a +5 shield and +6 armor, a +8 shield and +3 armor, or any other combination adding up to +11). Special abilities may be drawn from the list of all magical and psionic armor and shield enhancements that are legal for a particular type of shield or armor.
The enhancements a intellect shield has are determined after a soulknife rests for 8 hours, and they remain for the rest of the day; a soulknife must determine the enhancements for both his shield and armor at this time. If the soulknife wishes to change the enhancements of his intellect shield, he can take a standard action to do so; it costs him 2 power points per plus of enhancement he wishes to change, and the normal manifester level cap on power points spent on an ability applies.
Even in places where psionic effects do not normally function (such as within a null psionics field), a soulknife can attempt to sustain his intellect shield by making a DC 20 Will save. On a successful save, the soulknife maintains his armor and shield for a number of rounds equal to his class level before he needs to check again. On an unsuccessful attempt, the intellect shield vanishes. As a move action on his turn, the soulknife can attempt a new Will save to rematerialize his intellect shield while he remains within the psionics negating effect.
Evasion (Ex)
A soulknife can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used when the soulknife is using his intellect shield, but not in any other armor. A helpless soulknife does not gain the benefit of evasion.
Synaptic Strike (Su)
As a swift action, a soulknife of 3rd level or higher can imbue his mind blade with psychic energy that disrupts his target's mental processes. He chooses one effect from the list below, and every living, nonmindless target he successfully hits with a melee or ranged attack during his turn must make a successful saving throw against it (type and DC given in each ability description) or be subject to that effect. Creatures immune to mind-affecting effects are not immune to synaptic strike, as it effects their entire nervous system rather than just their mind, but they gain a +4 bonus on their saving throw.
Neural Disruption: The target must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or fall prone and be unable to stand up until the end of the soulknife's next turn.
Muscle Spasm: The target must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or be paralyzed for one round.
Mental Disconnect: The target must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or be dazed for one round.
System Failure: The target must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 15 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or be entangled for one round.
Psychosomatic Distress: The target must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 15 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or take 1d8 damage per two soulknife levels.
Sensory Deprivation: The target must succeed on a Will save (DC 15 + ½ soulknife level + Cha modifier) or be blinded and deafened for one round.
Battle Mind (Su)
Thanks to his extensive combat training, the soulknife's psionic senses and mental abilities are greatly enhanced over those of other psionicists. This has several effects: First, the soulknife gains Psionic Meditation as a bonus feat and gains the ability to hold two foci at once, as long as he has either his mental weapon or his intellect shield shaped (each of which he can gain with a move action by virtue of Psionic Meditation). Second, while he is psionically focused the soulknife gains telepathy with a range of 30 feet and the benefits of the Mindsight feat. Finally, if during a surprise round he would normally be surprised, as long as he is psionically focused the soulknife can make an opposed Concentration check against his enemy with the highest modifier to act normally that.
Thought Travel (Ps)
The soulknife gains the ability to use dimension slide and psionic dimension door at will as a psi-like abilities. He uses the abilities as if they were fully augmented (that is, he can manifest them using a move action if he so wishes).
Versatile Weapon (Ex)
As a soulknife grows more experienced with both melee and ranged combat, he becomes able to meld both into a single fighting style. A soulknife with this ability can apply melee weapon enchantments to ranged weapons and vice-versa, and he may use melee-only feats with a ranged mental weapon as well as ranged-only feats with a melee mental weapon—for instance, he could Power Attack with a bow or Rapid Shot with a sword. This ability only applies to his mental weapon and not any other weapons he may wield.
Dilate Shield (Ps)
As a soulknife's power increases, he can temporarily dilate his intellect shield, expanding it from armor form to a glowing nimbus that protects every part of his body more fully. Whenever the soulknife is attacked by a ranged attack (including ranged touch attacks) and he has his intellect shield shaped, he may attempt to deflect it by using up one of his attacks of opportunity for the round. He may declare that he is using this power after the attack successfully hits, but must choose to use it before the effects of the attack are resolved. The soulknife makes an attack roll (melee or ranged, soulknife's choice), and if the attack roll is higher then the enemy’s attack roll, the attack is negated. The soulknife cannot deflect a critical hit against him. This ability may be used as many times per round as desired, as long as the soulknife has sufficient attacks of opportunity to fuel this ability.
In addition, he can try to expand his intellect shield even further at the cost of additional psychic effort. As an immediate action, when he is the subject of an area attack the soulknife can attempt to block it or at least partially suppress it. If the soulknife is in the area of a line effect, the line fails to extend past his space, though he is still subject to the effect as normal; this option costs a number of power points equal to the save DC of the line, or if there is no save allowed, the hit dice of the effect's originator. If the soulknife is in the area of a cone, burst, or spread, he may choose a number of squares up to his Charisma modifier within reach to exclude from the area of the effect (not including his own space) this option costs a number of power points equal to the number of spaces excluded times ½ the save DC of the line, or if there is no save allowed, the number of squares times ½ the hit dice of the effect's originator.
Mettle (Ex)
A soulknife’s psychic strength allows him to shrug off magical effects that would otherwise harm him. If a soulknife makes a successful Will or Fortitude saving throw that would normally reduce an effect’s severity, he suffers no effect at all. Only effects with a saving throw entry of “Will partial,” “Fortitude half,” or similar entries can be negated through this ability.
Psychic Interference (Ps)
As soulknives' psionic strength grows, their ability to mess with their opponents minds is enhanced—literally. As an immediate action, a soulknife can expend his psionic focus and one or more power points in an attempt to disrupt an opponent's action with a burst of mental static, making a ranged touch attack against a single opponent within 30 feet. If the attack is successful, the target must make a Will or Fortitude save, target's choice (DC 10 + soulknife's Cha modifier + power points spent), or lose whatever action they were attempting—any spell slots or other limited-use abilities are expended, and the target may not choose to take another action in its place. The soulkife must attempt to disrupt an action as it is declared, meaning (among other things) that he may not foil a full attack or a charge action that began out of range.
Weapon Storm (Su)
Eventually, a soulknife gains the ability to momentarily fragment his mental weapon into numerous identical weapons, melee weapons striking all enemies within reach and ranged weapons firing bolt after bolt into foes at range.
As a full attack, when wielding his mental weapon a soulknife can give up his regular attacks and instead make one attack at his full base attack bonus against each opponent within range. If wielding a melee weapon, the soulknife can strike each enemy within reach; if wielding a ranged weapon, he may strike any opponent within the weapon's first range increment. Each fragment functions identically to the soulknife’s regular mental weapon.
When using his weapon storm, a soulknife forfeits any bonus or extra attacks granted by other feats or abilities (such as the Cleave feat or the haste spell). The mental weapon immediately reverts to its previous form after the weapon storm.
Improved Evasion (Ex)
This ability works like evasion, except that while the soulknife still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, henceforth he takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless soulknife does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.
Perfect Strike (Ex)
A soulknife can focus all his concentration and strength into a single blow. As a full-round action, a soulknife can expend his psionic focus to make a single melee or ranged attack that deals maximum damage. Extra damage dice from sneak attack or other sources are maximized along with normal weapon damage and any static bonuses, but this ability has no effect on a critical hit.
Negate Psionics (Ex)
No magical or psionic impediment can trouble a soulknife for long. As a standard action, a soulknife may spend 5 power points and make a melee or ranged touch attack to deliver a targeted dispel psionics power, which he may augment as normal for the power using his class level as his manifester level.
Improved Mettle (Ex)
This ability works like mettle, except that while the soulknife still takes no partial effect on a successful Fortitude or Will saving throw against attacks, henceforth he takes only the partial effect on a failed save. A helpless soulknife does not gain the benefit of improved mettle.
Temporal Buffer (Su)
A soulknife can shift himself to a faster time stream to gain an edge over his opponents. As long as he is psionically focused, he may take either one extra swift action or one extra immediate action each turn. If he uses two immediate actions in a round, then he must give up his swift and move actions on his next action unless he uses this ability on his next turn to gain (and give up) a second swift action.
Faster Than Thought (Su)
An experienced soulknife can attack fast enough to strike perfectly against every target he can reach. This ability functions as the Weapon Storm ability, except that the soulknife may expend his psionic focus to deal maximum damage on each attack as if using Perfect Strike against every opponent. This ability costs 1 power point per target so attacked.
Mind Over Life (Su)
As his mental strength approaches its apex, a soulknife can support and heal his body purely using psionic energy. As a move action, he can either grant himself 4 temporary hit points for every power point he spends or heal 3 hit points for every power point he spends.
Mindseeking Strike (Ex)
As a full-round action, a soulknife may expend his psionic focus and pay 20 power points to make a single melee or ranged attack that is treated as if the soulknife had rolled a natural 20 on the attack roll. Only living, nonmindless creatures may be affected by this ability. This ability is an exception to the rule that you may only spend power points equal to your manifester level at any given time.
Mind Over Death (Su)
When a soulknife has reached his ultimate potential, he is almost unstoppable; his mental weapon and intellect shield become an unconscious extension of his body and he can support his body with psionic energy long after others would have fallen ten times over. As long as a soulknife is psionically focused, he cannot die from hit point damage. In any round where the soulknife would be reduced to 0 hit points or lower, and in every round where the soulknife remains below 0 hit points, he may spend 2 power points to remain alive and conscious. He can still die from massive damage or any effects that do not deal hit point damage, and if the soulknife runs out of power points while below -10 hit points he immediately dies. A soulknife may not use any external source of power points to fuel this ability, such as a cognizance crystal, but may only use his own reserve.
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Thoughts? I tried to make "make your own weapons and armor" into a worthwhile schtick, so focusing on your weapon would be an asset rather than a handicap, and I added some abilities that are mostly in line with ToB stances and strikes...but I'm not quite sure of the balance. Any feedback is appreciated.