Pathfinder 1E Incarnum in Pathfinder

Hellseele

First Post
Archetypes are the alternate class versions (bundles of alternate class features, really) introduced in the APG, and continued on into every PF hardcover since then. If you have only the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, then you wouldn't know what they are, but otherwise it's rather surprising to encounter somebody who doesn't know about them!

Ah, so it was something obvious! I am familiar with the concept, but just forgot the name. I have the APG and a few other PF books, but I've been running a group with relatively inexperienced players since they came out. At their request, I restricted our current campaign to core only and so haven't had much experience actually using new options. My interest in Incarnum is because we're likely going to start a new game soon, and I thought it would be a good step into more complex systems.

I need to reread this thread to recall precisely what changes have been made to the classes since I posted them here, so I won't be detailing the changes in this post. I'll be sure of my details and compile them in a future post.

Well that would certainly be useful for me, but I understand if you don't want to take the trouble. You've already been massively helpful, and your few comments on extra balancing (especially info on the pattern chakra) should send me in the right direction.

Depending on how things shake down in the next few weeks with my group, I may end up trying to combine much of your work with the descriptions in the MoI book into a single document so my players don't need to reference multiple sources to develop characters. I think it'd also be nice to have something clean and distributable, possibly .pdf or .html format. Either way, I'll let you know if I get started on something like this.
 

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seint83

First Post
Did you make some changes to the necroincarnate class? I'd like to use it for my campaign, i have no intention to introduce incarnum but it can ben used like a necromancer..
 

paradox42

First Post
I've been lax in keeping up with this thread (shame on me!) but the changes made to the Incarnum base classes and stuff really have been extensive enough to demand more postings. So I'm going to bump this thread now, and try to kick my keister into gear to post about the changes on the weekend.

For tonight, one thing I feel I ought to do is post the rules I came up with for soulmeld research- a critical factor in bringing Incarnum classes closer to par with spellcasting and psionic manifesting classes. So, here they are, copied and pasted from my setting-rules file. The new feat mentioned in the rules, Expanded Meldshaping, was worked out with one of the two other guys who helped me begin this conversion in the first place; basically what it does is give you access to two new soulmelds without granting you the increased soulmeld cap that would allow you to shape them in addition to your other melds. By contrast, the feat from Magic of Incarnum, Shape Soulmeld, actually does increase your "maximum soulmelds shaped" so as to let you shape it- even a Fighter could take this feat and suddenly be able to shape a soulmeld (specifically, the one he took the feat for).

The feat text first:

Expanded Meldshaping
You know how to shape soulmelds that other members of your class do not.
Prerequisites: Meldshaper level 1, 1 rank in Knowledge (Arcana), 1 rank in Spellcraft.
Benefit: Choose two soulmelds that are not on the class soulmeld list of your meldshaping class, and which are not forbidden to you by meldshaping restrictions built into your class (such as the inability of Incarnates and Soulborns to shape soulmelds with alignment descriptors that do not match their own alignments). You can shape those soulmelds as if they were on your class soulmeld list.
Normal: You cannot shape soulmelds that are not on your class's list of soulmelds.
Special: You can gain this feat more than once. Its effects stack. Each time you take the feat, you choose two new soulmelds to effectively add to your class list.

Now the rules.

Researching Incarnum

It is possible for meldshapers to invent and research new soulmelds, just as it is possible for spellcasters to conduct spell research and manifesters to conduct power research. Because meldshapers typically know all of the soulmelds available to their class, however, they must take feats to learn the new soulmelds they invent this way. The Shape Soulmeld feat can be used to learn a new soulmeld that the character has previously spent the time and effort to research, but the Expanded Meldshaping feat is a better option for characters who want to conduct soulmeld research in the future (because it allows a character to learn two new soulmelds with just the one feat).

Researching a new soulmeld requires first and foremost designing the new soulmeld. Since soulmelds, unlike spells and psionic powers, do not have levels, they are not as simple to design or build as those types of supernatural effect are- but several general rules apply nonetheless.

First, It is not possible to create a soulmeld that does not occupy (and thus, bind to) at least one chakra, and the special class-specific chakras used by Foundationists and Totemists (Pattern and Totem) do not count as chakras for this purpose- since they do not occupy body slots. However, every soulmeld which is on the Totemist class list must have a Totem Chakra Bind power, and every soulmeld which is on the Foundationist class list must have a Pattern Chakra Bind power.

Second, although soulmelds have no "levels" as such, one can assign a new soulmeld an approximate measure of utility based upon the chakra or chakras it binds to. Soulmelds do not have levels, but chakras definitely do, as a glance at any of the five core meldshaper classes (Foundationist, Incarnate, Soulborn, Totemist, or True Necrocarnate) can illustrate. Since the levels at which each chakra is opened do not vary by much between classes (except for the Soulborn that is, which is a "half meldshaper" in the same manner that Rangers and Paladins are "half casters"), it is possible to assign an approximate "spell level equivalency" to each chakra.

In this vein, Crown equates to 1st level, Hands and Feet equate to about 2nd; Arms, Brow and Shoulders equate to roughly 4th or 5th, Throat and Waist to about 7th, Heart to 8th, and Soul to 9th. This, then can be used as a guideline for how powerful an effect should be in order to associate with a particular Chakra Bind (for example, creating a soulmeld which provides the meldshaper a Haste effect when bound to the Feet is probably a bad idea, because Haste is significantly stronger than the Feet allow for). Totem and Pattern Chakras are unique, because they do not correspond to body slots, and only exist for the classes which specifically use them (Totemist and Foundationist, respectively). Both Totemist and Foundationist get their class's unique chakras opened at 1st level, but the chakras themselves have no particular "spell level" equivalencies- the utility of a Totem or Pattern Chakra Bind power should be determined at least in part by which other chakras the soulmeld is associated with.

Note, though, that the Chakra Bind power level-equivalencies are guidelines, not rules; it is possible to significantly reduce a particular effect's utility by changing some of its base statistics. For example, Invisibility is a 2nd-level spell, but if you shorten its duration from 1 minute/level to 1 round/level (and give that a hard maximum of 5 rounds), then you have a 1st-level spell- Vanish (APG 253). Therefore, that soulmeld idea granting Haste for a Feet Chakra Bind becomes less of an issue if it has limits imposed upon it, such as (for example) lasting a maximum of 1 round, plus one per point of invested essentia, and perhaps causing the soulmeld to spontaneously unshape when the duration expires.

Soulmelds also, of course, typically provide the meldshaper with a few basic powers which do not depend upon binding any chakra. These powers are most often bonuses to one or a few appropriate skills, but a few other effects are possible (for example, granting the meldshaper use of a 0-level spell such as Message). Most commonly, a soulmeld that grants a bonus to only one or two different skills grants a basic +4 to each skill; soulmelds granting bonuses to 3 or more skills grant a base bonus of +2. The bonus invariably increases by +2 per point of essentia invested in the soulmeld. This basic bonus's type is usually insight or competence, but sometimes other bonuses are possible (for example, a Necrocarnum soulmeld with the Evil descriptor typically grants a profane bonus instead).

Once the proposed soulmeld's regular abilities and Chakra Bind powers are determined, and approved by the GM, the research can begin. Treat a new soulmeld as a "spell" of level X, where X is equal to the "level equivalent" of the highest Chakra Bind power the soulmeld offers (for example, a soulmeld granting Chakra Bind powers for Heart and Soul would use 9th for this, while a soulmeld with powers for Feet and Shoulders would use 4th or 5th) plus half the level-equivalent values (minimum value of 1) for each of its other Chakra Bind powers. Thus, a soulmeld which binds to both Feet and Soul would count as level 10; whereas one which binds to both Soul and Heart would count as level 13 or 14. Totem and Pattern Chakras do not count in this calculation, since they are present for all soulmelds on the appropriate class's lists (Totemist and Foundationist, respectively).

A unique feature of soulmelds is their ability to grant different powers depending upon which Chakra they occupy and/or Bind to, and this brings up a possibility for soulmelds that does not exist for psionic powers or spells. Specifically, it is possible to research "upgrades" to existing soulmelds, exploring new powers that they can grant when bound to different Chakras than standard. This is handled exactly like the above "level equivalent" determination, except that the full "level value" of the proposed new Chakra is used for the research. The GM must, of course, approve the powers of the proposed soulmeld upgrade, and in any case, no more than one Chakra upgrade may be researched at a time. That is, a meldshaper can research upgrades allowing an existing soulmeld to be used on the Crown or Hands Chakra, but cannot do research on both Chakras simultaneously- research for each proposed Chakra upgrade must be done separately.

If a Totemist is trying to research an upgrade to a non-Totemist soulmeld to allow it to use the Totem Chakra, or a Foundationist is trying to upgrade a non-Foundationist soulmeld to use the Pattern, then the research is conducted as if creating a 2nd-level "spell." Research of this type always implies adding the upgraded soulmeld to the researcher's own class list; that is, adding the Totem Chakra to a soulmeld makes it a Totemist class soulmeld, and adding the Pattern Chakra to a soulmeld makes it a Foundationist class soulmeld. Other meldshaping classes do not and cannot add existing soulmelds to their class lists this way. The GM should strongly discourage allowing a Totem Chakra upgrade to any soulmeld which does not have a clear and obvious connection to the natural world, such as using animal souls or the souls of people who work closely with animals such as farmers or hunters. Likewise, allowing Pattern Chakra upgrades for soulmelds which are not rather "Arcane" or "elemental" in flavor should be discouraged.

With the level determined as explained above, the meldshaper must retreat to a quiet and peaceful location, conducive to meditation and communing with unbodied souls of the cosmos. Research involves an expenditure of 1,000 gp per week and takes one week per "level" of the soulmeld or upgrade. At the end of that time, the character makes a Spellcraft check for the research (DC 10 + soulmeld "level"). If the research check fails, the character must go through the research process again if she wants to keep trying; the research did not produce a viable soulmeld. The character must spend the full one-week-per-level with 1000 gp spent per week on research materials. The Spellcraft check at the end of each iteration of research remains the same- DC 10 + the "level" of the soulmeld or upgrade.

On the other hand, if the research check succeeds, then the research produced a viable soulmeld, though the meldshaper cannot necessarily always shape it consistently. Even the meldshaper who researched a new soulmeld that is on his or her own meldshaping class's class soulmeld list cannot automatically shape it, until he or she spends a feat on Shape Soulmeld or Expanded Meldshaping (though with GM permission, this can be a feat that the character spent prior to the research, with the intent of conducting the research to fill it). Until the character spends the feat to learn the new soulmeld, he or she must make a Spellcraft check (DC 5 + the soulmeld's "level") each time he or she wishes to shape it; the character cannot take 10 or take 20 on this check. Each time the check fails, the character is unable to shape the new soulmeld until after the next time he or she gets 8 hours of uninterrupted rest.

If the research was not conducted to create an entirely new soulmeld, but rather to upgrade an existing one that the character already knew how to shape, then the successful researcher is able to shape the soulmeld just as he or she could before- except when using the upgrade. When using the upgraded power of the soulmeld, the character must roll a Spellcraft check (DC 5 + the upgrade's "level") or be unable to shape it that way until after the next time he or she gets 8 uninterrupted hours of rest; this does not prevent the character from shaping and using the same soulmeld without the upgrade (just as it used to be shaped). This inability to shape a soulmeld's upgrade consistently lasts until the next time the character gains a Spellcraft rank; once that skill rank is gained, the upgrade is from then on treated as a standard part of the soulmeld's use whenever the character chooses to shape it.
 

paradox42

First Post
The Elementborn

Well, time to try out the new table feature of the Advanced Posting option on the new boards.

I mentioned in a post up above that I'd made an Alternate Class for the Soulborn that bases itself on the Foundationist, in much the same manner that a "base" Soulborn "bases itself" on the Incarnate. In other words, if the Soulborn is the Paladin and the Incarnate is the Cleric, then this could be thought of as the Magus to the Foundationist "Wizard." It's an Alternate Class, not an Archetype, because the changes required to properly use the Foundationist list and swap out alignment flavor for elemental flavor were so extensive that there really was no other option IMO.

Where do these guys come from? I named the class the "Elementborn," mainly because I ran out of creative juice in trying to come up with a better name; the background/history description in my own files specifically notes that the name is a misnomer (since nobody who uses Foundationist soulmelds is "born" to the craft). My own setting states that Foundationists started at one specific school in a faraway land, and that some of the students of that school were unable or unwilling to fully pursue the course of study required to become a full-fledged Foundationist. Conversely, some of the "muscle" hired as security for the school happened to overhear classes that were in session, and decided to try some of the lessons out for themselves; accordingly, they learned to meldshape to a limited degree. These two categories of "lesser Foundationists" got together and figured out how to make a new path of learning focused on the "elemental soulmelds," and thus, the Elementborn... was born (ugh, sorry). Individual GMs who use the Foundationist in their own games can probably come up with appropriate flavor for this class if they like it and wish to use it alongside the Foundationist.

Note: The Elementborn is an alternate class for the Soulborn base class.


Role: Elementborns use Incarnum to enhance their natural combat ability. They can share the power of Incarnum with their allies to grant them resistance to the Elementborn's opposed energy and element, making them valuable members of any adventuring party that encounters foes using such powers. Their meldshaping and martial skills allow them to fell enemies with both physical might and attacks of elemental energy.


Alignment: Any.

Hit Die: d10.


Class Skills:
The Elementborn's class skills are: Acrobatics (DEX), Climb (STR), Craft (any) (INT), Handle Animal (CHA), Heal (WIS), Knowledge (Arcana, Planes) (INT), Profession (any) (WIS), Ride (DEX), Spellcraft (INT), and Swim (STR).


Skill Points per Level: 2 + INT modifier.


Class LevelBABFortRefWillSpecialSoulmeldsEssentiaChakra Binds
1st+1+2+0+2Elemental Aura, Smite Opposition 1/day000
2nd+2+3+0+3Incarnum Defense000
3rd+3+3+1+3Bonus feat010
4th+4+4+1+4Smite Opposition 2/day110
5th+5+4+1+4Share Incarnum Defense 1/day120
6th+6/+1+5+2+5Aura of Materiality, Chakra Bind (Crown, Pattern)121
7th+7/+2+5+2+5Bonus feat, Smite Opposition 3/day131
8th+8/+3+6+2+6Chakra Binds (Feet, Hands)231
9th+9/+4+6+3+6Share Incarnum Defense 2/day241
10th+10/+5+7+3+7Smite Opposition 4/day262
11th+11/+6/+1+7+3+7Bonus feat272
12th+12/+7/+2+8+4+8Aura of Whelming372
13th+13/+8/+3+8+4+8Share Incarnum Defense 3/day, Smite Opposition 5/day382
14th+14/+9/+4+9+4+9Chakra Binds (Arms, Brow, Shoulders)383
15th+15/+10/+5+9+5+9Bonus feat393
16th+16/+11/+6/+1+10+5+10Smite Opposition 6/day493
17th+17/+12/+7/+2+10+5+10Share Incarnum Defense 4/day4103
18th+18/+13/+8/+3+11+6+11Aura of Solidity, Chakra Binds (Throat, Waist)4104
19th+19/+14/+9/+4+11+6+11Bonus feat, Smite Opposition 7/day, Timeless Body4114
20th+20/+15/+10/+5+12+6+12Elemental Champion5134








Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Elementborn.


  • Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Elementborn characters are proficient with all Simple and Martial weapons, with all types of Armor (Heavy, Medium, and Light), and with Shields (except Tower Shields).
  • Elemental Aura: An Elementborn picks one of the four elements at 1st level, and is forever afterward bound to that choice. This choice carries several consequences.
    First, the Elementborn gains the subtype of the chosen element, though not any effects typically associated with that subtype (such as immunity or vulnerability to specific energy types). In effect, this just makes the character a potential target for various effects which depend upon or target specific elemental subtypes, including (especially) the Elementborn class's own Smite Opposition ability (see below).
    Second, most soulmelds on the Foundationist list are affiliated to one specific element, and three in particular (Elemental Avatar, Elemental Channel, and Elemental Chasuble) are affiliated with all four elements. An Elementborn is only allowed to use the version associated with his or her own element, for these three soulmelds; thus, a Fire Elementborn could not shape an Elemental Avatar (Air).
    Third, an Elementborn character is unable to shape soulmelds of the element opposed to his or her own, at all; thus, an Air Elementborn is not allowed to shape any soulmeld on the Earth list. Furthermore, the Elementborn's essentia capacity for soulmelds on the two element lists not opposed to his or her own (for example, Fire and Water for an Air Elementborn) are at -1 essentia capacity. This means that at 4th level, although an Elementborn is allowed to shape soulmelds of these elements, he or she is forbidden from putting any essentia into them, because their effective essentia capacity is 0.
    A few soulmelds on the Foundationist list have no elemental affiliation, and are designated Universal (or Univ). The Elementborn suffers no restrictions regarding shaping these soulmelds, or investing essentia into them.
    Fourth, the character receives a +1 bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Linguistics, and Sense Motive checks when used on creatures of the same elemental type he or she is affiliated with. For example, a Fire Elementborn would receive the bonus when interacting with Fire Elementals or Efreeti, or when dealing with the Ignan language.
    Finally, whenever the Elementborn changes the essentia investment into Incarnum feats he or she has, he or she may invest in the Elemental Aura exactly as if it were an Incarnum feat. This has no effect at 1st level, but in later levels it affects the radius of the Aura for purposes of special abilities like sharing Incarnum Defense, the Aura of Resolve, and so on.
  • Smite Opposition (Su): Once per day, an Elementborn can use the power of Incarnum fused with his or her soul to aid the struggle against opposing forces. As a swift action, the Elementborn chooses one target within sight to Smite. If the target has the element descriptor or subtype opposed to the Elementborn's choice of element for the Elemental Aura (for example, an Air Elementborn could Smite a target that has the Earth descriptor or subtype), the Elementborn adds his or her CHA bonus (if any) to attack rolls and his or her Elementborn level to damage rolls made against that target. If the target of the Smite is an Outsider or a Dragon with one or more descriptors or subtypes matching the character's opposed element, then the damage bonus increases to 2 points per Elementborn level. On the other hand, if the Elementborn targets a creature which does not have an element subtype or descriptor opposed to his or her chosen element (for example, a Water Elementborn targeting a creature that is not a Fire creature), then the Smite is wasted with no effect.
    If the Smite targets an appropriate creature, then attacks against the target automatically bypass any DR it might possess, regardless of the target's creature type. Creatures with the energy subtype or descriptor associated with a given element (Earth = Acid, Air = Electricity, Water = Cold) count as being the appropriate elemental type for the purpose of the Elementborn's Smite ability. Thus, a Fire Elementborn can successfully Smite a Winter Wolf, even though it has the Cold subtype rather than Water.
    In addition, while Smite Opposition is in effect, the Elementborn gains a Deflection bonus (equal to his or her CHA modifier, if any) to his or her AC against attacks made by the target of the Smite.
    The Smite Opposition effect remains until the target is dead, or until the next time the Elementborn rests and regains his or her daily uses of this ability. At 4th level, and every three levels thereafter, the Elementborn may Smite Opposition one additional time per day (as indicated on the class table).
  • Incarnum Defense (Su): The Elementborn's Incarnum-fused soul dramatically affects his or her body and mind. At 2nd level, this manifests as a visible change in the character's appearance, as well as resistance to a specific energy type depending on the character's chosen element:
    • Air: The Elementborn's eyes become solid blue, with no visible pupil or iris. The character gains Resist Acid 5, and a +1 bonus on saving throws against Earth effects. At 8th level, these bonuses improve to Resist 10, and +2 on saves; at 14th level, they improve to Resist 20 and +4 on saves. At 20th level, the Elementborn is completely Immune to Acid damage or to effects which carry the Earth descriptor. The character automatically makes any saving throw which is allowed or required by such effects, as if having rolled a natural 20.
    • Earth: The Elementborn's eyes become completely gold, with no visible pupil or iris. The character gains Resist Electricity 5, and a +1 bonus on saving throws against Air effects. At 8th level, these bonuses improve to Resist 10, and +2 on saves; at 14th level, they improve to Resist 20 and +4 on saves. At 20th level, the Elementborn is completely Immune to Electricity damage or to effects which carry the Air descriptor. The character automatically makes any saving throw which is allowed or required by such effects, as if having rolled a natural 20.
    • Fire: The Elementborn's eyes glow deep red, with a flickering orange in the depths. The character gains Resist Cold 5, and a +1 bonus on saving throws against Water effects. At 8th level, these bonuses improve to Resist 10, and +2 on saves; at 14th level, they improve to Resist 20 and +4 on saves. At 20th level, the Elementborn is completely Immune to Cold damage or to effects which carry the Water descriptor. The character automatically makes any saving throw which is allowed or required by such effects, as if having rolled a natural 20.
    • Water: The Elementborn's eyes become emerald green, with a shimmering blue passing back and forth across the surface like waves on a sea. The character gains Resist Fire 5, and a +1 bonus on saving throws against Fire effects. At 8th level, these bonuses improve to Resist 10, and +2 on saves; at 14th level, they improve to Resist 20 and +4 on saves. At 20th level, the Elementborn is completely Immune to Fire damage or to effects which carry the Fire descriptor. The character automatically makes any saving throw which is allowed or required by such effects, as if having rolled a natural 20.
  • Bonus feats: At 3rd level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the Elementborn gains a bonus feat. This can be any Combat or Incarnum feat for which the character meets the prerequisites. Elementborns count as Fighters of level (Elementborn - 2) for the purpose of qualifying for Combat or Incarnum feats.
  • Meldshaping: Beginning at 4th level, an Elementborn gains a limited ability to shape soulmelds, which are drawn from the Foundationist soulmeld list. All Elementborn characters know (and can shape) all soulmelds from this list, except for those forbidden to them by their choice of Elemental Aura (see above).
    The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an Elementborn soulmeld is 10 + the number of points of essentia invested in the soulmeld + the Elementborn's CON modifier. Before 4th level, an Elementborn has no meldshaper level; at 4th level and above, the Elementborn's meldshaper level equals his or her Elementborn level - 3.
    An Elementborn can shape only a certain number of soulmelds at a time. The character's base allotment is given in the class table above. The maximum number of soulmelds that an Elementborn can have shaped simultaneously is equal to his or her CON score - 10, or the number given on the table, whichever is lower. At 4th level, an Elementborn can shape one soulmeld at a time (assuming the character's CON is at least 11). As he or she advances in level, he or she can shape an increasing number of soulmelds.
    At 3rd level, an Elementborn gains access to a personal pool of essentia, assuming he or she did not already have an essentia pool from another source (such as Incarnum feats or race). This essentia can be invested in the character's Incarnum feats, Elemental Aura, and soulmelds to increase their power. The essentia pool's base size (from having Elementborn levels) is given in the class table above. However, the Elementborn's character level determines the maximum quantity of essentia that the character can invest in any single incarnum receptacle (as shown on page 19 of MoI, table 2-1: Essentia Capacity). As a swift action, the Elementborn can reallocate his or her essentia investments in soulmelds every round (see MoI, page 50, "Essentia").
    An Elementborn does not study or prepare soulmelds in advance, but must have a good night's rest and must meditate for 1 hour to shape his or her soulmelds (see Shaping Sulmelds, on page 49 of MoI).
  • Share Incarnum Defense (Su): Starting at 5th level, as a standard action, the Elementborn can share the power of his or her Incarnum Defense with all allies within a radius of 5 feet (plus 5 feet per point of essentia invested in the Elemental Aura; see above) that do not carry an element or energy descriptor or subtype opposed to his or her own (for example, a Fire Elementborn would be able to Share with all allies who are neither Cold nor Water). Affected creatures are granted the same resistances and/or immunities that the Elementborn him/herself enjoys, for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the Elementborn's CHA modifier. The Elementborn can use this ability once per day at 5th level, plus one additional time per day for every four levels above 5th (that is, 2/day at 9th, 3/day at 13th, etc.).
  • Aura of Materiality (Su): At 6th level, the Elementborn's attacks are treated as whatever material is most favorable to him or her, for the purpose of penetrating DR based on material type (such as /Adamantine or /Cold Iron). Furthermore, any attack made by any ally within a radius of 5 feet (plus 5 per point of essentia invested in the Elemental Aura) of the character is treated as similarly "materialed," as long as that ally does not have an element or energy descriptor or subtype opposed to the Elementborn's chosen element. This ability functions only while the Elementborn is conscious, not if the character is unconscious or dead.
  • Chakra Binds: Beginning at 6th level, an Elementborn can bind his or her soulmelds to chakras, granting him or her new powers based on the soulmeld and chakra chosen. Binding a soulmeld to a chakra closes the body slot associated with that chakra (see MoI page 50, "Chakras"), so that the character cannot also benefit from a magic item worn on the body slot associated with that chakra.
    The exception to this limitation is the Pattern chakra, which is not associated with a particular body slot. This unique chakra represents the basic pattern of elements that is required to create any given object. In particular, the character's Pattern chakra is intended to represent his or her own Pattern, and conceptually the act of binding a soulmeld to it infuses the Elementborn's Pattern with extra elemental (or soul) energy which is what grants the powers provided by the chakra bind. The Pattern chakra is treated for game-rule purposes in the same manner as the Totem chakra that Totemists get; see MOI page 51 ("Chakra Binds") for more details.
    The maximum number of chakra binds an Elementborn can have active at any one time is shown above on the class table. The character can maintain a number of active Chakra Binds equal to this number, or his or her CON modifier, whichever is lower. An Elementborn has the ability to bind to his or her Crown and/or Pattern chakra at 6th level. At 8th level, and other levels as shown on the class table above, the character gains the ability to bind to additional chakras.
  • Aura of Whelming (Su): At 12th level, an Elementborn can expend two uses of the Smite Opposition ability to grant the ability to Smite Opposition to all allies within a radius of 5 feet plus 5 per point of essentia invested in the Elemental Aura, using his or her bonuses and chosen element. Allies must use use this Smite Opposition ability by the start of the Elementborn's next turn, and the bonuses last for 1 minute. Using this ability is a free action. Creatures with an energy or element descriptor or subtype opposed to the Elementborn's chosen element gain no benefit from this ability.
  • Aura of Solidity (Su): At 18th level, the Elementborn becomes immune to critical hits and attacks which depend upon precision (such as Sneak Attacks). Allies within a radius of 5 feet (plus 5 feet per point of essentia invested in the Elemental Aura; see above) that do not carry an element or energy descriptor or subtype opposed to the Elementborn's chosen element gain a +4 bonus to AC for the purpose of confirming critical hits upon them, and against flanking attacks. This ability only functions while the Elementborn is conscious, not if the character is unconscious or dead.
  • Timeless Body (Ex): Upon attaining 19th level, the presence of Incarnum within the Elementborn's body becomes so prevalent that his or her aging process stops completely. The character no longer takes penalties to ability scores due to aging, and cannot be supernaturally aged. Any penalties due to aging that the character has already taken, however, remain in place. Age bonuses still accrue, and the Elementborn still dies of old age when his or her time is up.
  • Elemental Champion (Su): A 20th-level Elementborn becomes an Outsider with the element subtype matching his or her chosen element, and the Elemental and Native subtypes as well. The Elemental subtype, in particular, grants the character several immunities such as immunity to Bleed, Paralysis, Poison, Sleep, and Stunning (the complete list is given in Pathfinder Bestiary I, page 311). Unlike most Outsiders, the Elementborn can still be brought back from the dead as if he or she were a member of the previous creature type. Furthermore, whenever the Elementborn uses Smite Opposition against an appropriate Outsider that does not have the Native subtype, that Outsider is subject to a Banishment effect (using the Elementborn level as the caster level- plus the Elementborn's weapon automatically counts as an object the subject hates). After the damage and the Banishment are resolved, the Smite immediately ends.

Starting Gold: Elementborn characters start with 5d6 × 10 gp.
Starting Age: Elementborn characters start at Self-Taught age.

(EDIT: I don't know where all those extra spaces came from between lines, but rather than try to figure it out I'll leave them- it's better than making the post unreadable by removing critical spaces. Tried (and failed) to add indents back in too- the board code doesn't appear to like that.)
 
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paradox42

First Post
Update on playtesting: I haven't playtested any more of these classes since the last time I posted about it; the same Soulborn character is still in the game (he got Raised after that death I mentioned and is now a nice round 10th level), but the Soulborn character gave me enough experience with the way Incarnum feats work that I'm confident of my judgments regarding those.

I should mention, since I see I didn't above in the first post of this thread, that the two guys who were helping me come up with this stuff way back when agreed with me on another alternate rule- though this one really just sort of alters the feat text of every Incarnum feat. Basically, every Incarnum feat in MoI (Magic of Incarnum, if I haven't used that acronym before in this thread) has text stating that you can only invest essentia into or out of it once per day, and we felt that that was needlessly restrictive (particularly with the existence of the 15-minute rule for shaping just one soulmeld). So we changed it. One guy was in favor of just eliminating the delay altogether and allowing Incarnum feat investment to be changed as easily as soulmeld investment; the other guy had no opinion but I wanted to keep some delay out of caution. So in my own rules files, I state in the rules section explaining what an Incarnum feat actually is, that all Incarnum feats have a "delay" built into their essentia investment. It takes 1 minute of concentration to change the essentia investment in Incarnum feats, and any class features or racial traits that say they "work like Incarnum feats" (for example, the Soulborn's Aura). So that means it's not something you can do in most combats, but it's easy enough to do it outside combat.

I mention this because my SOulborn character has spent most of his feat slots on Incarnum feats; a deliberate choice on my part (knowing in advance it was going to result in a suboptimal character from a power perspective) to playtest Incarnum feats particularly and discover their workings in a game. At the moment, at 10th level, he has Cobalt Charge, Cobalt Expertise, Cobalt Power, Healing Soul, and Sapphire Smite. It is also worth noting that we changed the workings of Cobalt Expertise & Power, and of Sapphire Smite, from the version given in MoI; Expertise & Power needed it because Pathfinder introduced all those new combat maneuvers that really should be boosted by the feats like the other maneuvers they boost, and Sapphire Smite needed changing because Smites are a lot stronger in PF than they were in 3.5- which means the provision in the feat that gives you extra daily uses is far too powerful (Paizo removed the Extra Smite feat with good reason). I'll be doing a follow-up post in the near future about Incarnum feats, detailing those changes as well as showing whole new feats that I personally came up with, based on existing Incarnum feats and other PF feat trees (not to mention, helping other non-Incarnum PF classes to use Incarnum if they want to, like the Ranger has Azure Enmity and the Druid has Azure Wild Shape, but for classes like the Alchemist, Cavalier, etc.).

Changes to the Soulborn

I will finally mention, here, that there have been two changes made to the Soulborn as a result of playtesting: first, Smite Opposition proved to be relatively useless without having the ability to detect alignments, so we gave the Soulborn Detect Opposition at 1st level. Thus, my playtest character (who is CG) can use Detect Law and Detect Evil at will (though obviously only one at a time, of course). Second, the Soulborn's Will save is now Good, as that seemed to bring it more into line with the Paladin (which also gets good Fort and Will). It's worth noting that one of the three guys didn't agree with that change, and preferred to keep the Soulborn having just one good save; other GMs should do what seems most appropriate to them in that regard. Do keep in mind that although the Soulborn can tank like a Paladin (especially when a Smite is on), the Soulborn cannot heal like a Paladin (and that limits their durability considerably).

EDIT: tables can once again easily copy and paste into posts on ENWorld, so there's no reason not to copy the class table here to make it easy for others to use.

Class
Level
Base Attack
Bonus
Fortitude
Save
Reflex
Save
Will
Save
SpecialSoulmeldsEssentiaChakra
Binds
1st+1+2+0+2Aura, Detect Opposition, Smite Opposition 1/day000
2nd+2+3+0+3Incarnum Defense000
3rd+3+3+1+3Bonus feat010
4th+4+4+1+4Smite Opposition 2/day110
5th+5+4+1+4Share Incarnum Defense 1/day120
6th+6/+1+5+2+5Aura of Resolve, Chakra Bind (Crown)121
7th+7/+2+5+2+5Bonus feat, Smite Opposition 3/day131
8th+8/+3+6+2+6Chakra Binds (Feet, Hands)231
9th+9/+4+6+3+6Share Incarnum Defense 2/day241
10th+10/+5+7+3+7Smite Opposition 4/day262
11th+11/+6/+1+7+3+7Bonus feat272
12th+12/+7/+2+8+4+8Aura of Conviction372
13th+13/+8/+3+8+4+8Share Incarnum Defense 3/day, Smite Opposition 5/day382
14th+14/+9/+4+9+4+9Chakra Binds (Arms, Brow, Shoulders)383
15th+15/+10/+5+9+5+9Bonus feat393
16th+16/+11/+6/+1+10+5+10Smite Opposition 6/day493
17th+17/+12/+7/+2+10+5+10Share Incarnum Defense 4/day4103
18th+18/+13/+8/+3+11+6+11Aura of Inevitability, Chakra Binds (Throat, Waist)4104
19th+19/+14/+9/+4+11+6+11Bonus feat, Smite Opposition 7/day, Timeless Body4114
20th+20/+15/+10/+5+12+6+12Champion Incarnate5134
Class Features

Soulborn have the class features describe in MoI, with the following (admittedly, extensive) changes:

  • Aura (Ex): As MoI, except that whenever the character changes the essentia investment into Incarnum feats he or she has, he or she may invest in his Aura exactly as if it were an Incarnum feat. This has no effect at 1st level, but in later levels it affects the radius of the Aura for purposes of special abilities like sharing Incarnum Defense, the Aura of Resolve, and so on.
  • Detect Opposition (Sp): At will, a Soulborn can use either Detect Alignment spell corresponding to the alignment opposed to his or her own. Thus, a Lawful Good Soulborn can use Detect Chaos or Detect Evil, whereas a Lawful Evil Soulborn can use Detect Chaos or Detect Good. Only one of these effects may be active at a time; in order to switch alignments, the character must end the current effect and begin the other.
  • Meldshaping: As MoI, except for meldshaper level. Before 4th level, a Soulborn has no meldshaper level; at 4th level and above, the character's meldshaper level equals his or her Soulborn level - 3.
  • Bonus feats: Soulborns can choose any Incarnum feat or Combat feat to fill these slots, and count as Fighters of level (Soulborn - 2) for the purpose of qualifying for Combat feats (even when taking those feats using regular feat slots as opposed to class-granted bonus feat slots).
  • Smite Opposition (Su): Once per day, a Soulborn can use the power of Incarnum fused with his or her soul to aid the struggle against opposing forces. As a swift action, the Soulborn chooses one target within sight to Smite. If the target has at least one alignment component opposed to the Soulborn's (that is, a Lawful Good Soulborn could Smite a target that is Chaotic or Evil), the Soulborn adds his or her CHA bonus (if any) to attack rolls and his or her Soulborn level to damage rolls made against that target. If the target of the Smite is an Outsider or a Dragon with one or more subtypes matching the character's opposed alignments, then the damage bonus increases to 2 points per Soulborn level. On the other hand, if the Soulborn targets a creature which has no alignment component opposed to his or her own (for example, a Lawful Good Soulborn targeting a creature that is neither Chaotic nor Evil), then the Smite is wasted with no effect.
    If the Smite targets an appropriate creature, then attacks against the target automatically bypass any DR it might possess, regardless of the target's creature type or actual alignment (that is, it does not work better against Outsiders or Dragons, nor does it matter if the target has just one or both alignment components opposed to the Soulborn's).
    In addition, while Smite Opposition is in effect, the Soulborn gains a Deflection bonus (equal to his or her CHA modifier, if any) to his or her AC against attacks made by the target of the Smite.
    The Smite Opposition effect remains until the target is dead, or until the next time the Soulborn rests and regains his or her daily uses of this ability. At 4th level, and every three levels thereafter, the Soulborn may Smite Opposition one additional time per day (as indicated on the class table).
  • Share Incarnum Defese (Su): As a standard action, a Soulborn can share the power of his or her Incarnum Defense with all allies within a radius of 5 feet (plus 5 feet per point of essentia invested in the Aura; see above) that do not have an alignment component opposed to his or her own (for example, a Lawful Good Soulborn would be able to Share with all allies who are neither Chaotic nor Evil). Affected creatures are granted the same immunity the Soulborn him/herself enjoys, for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the Soulborn's CHA modifier. The Soulborn can use this ability one additional time per day for every four levels gained above 5th (2/day at 9th, 3/day at 13th, etc.).
  • Aura of Resolve (Su): Identical to the Paladin class feature from Core, except for being gained at 6th level instead of 8th, and the radius of the effect is equal to 5 feet + 5 feet per point of essentia invested in the character's Aura at the start of the day (intead of a static 10 feet).
  • Aura of Conviction (Su): At 12th level, a Soulborn can expend two uses of the Smite Opposition ability to grant the ability to Smite Opposition to all allies within a radius of 5 feet plus 5 per point of essentia invested in the Aura, using his or her bonuses and alignment components. Allies must use use this Smite Opposition ability by the start of the Soulborn's next turn, and the bonuses last for 1 minute. Using this ability is a free action. Creatures with either or both alignment components opposed to the Soulborn gain no benefit from this ability.
  • Aura of Inevitability (Su): At 18th level, the Soulborn's physical attacks (both natural and weapon-based) are treated as both of his or her alignments, for the purposes of bypassing DR. Furthermore, any attack made by any ally within a radius of 5 feet (plus 5 per point of essentia invested in the Aura) of the character is treated as similarly aligned, as long as that ally does not have an alignment component opposed to the Soulborn's. Finally, the Soulborn and all allies within the Aura radius who do not have an alignment component opposed to the Soulborn's gain a +4 morale bonus to Will saving throws against Compulsion effects. This ability functions only while the Soulborn is conscious, not if the character is unconscious or dead.
  • Champion Incarnate (Su): A 20th-level Soulborn becomes an Outsider with alignment subtypes matching his or her alignment (though unlike other Outsiders, the Soulborn can still be brought back from the dead as if he or she were a member of the previous creature type). The character gains DR 5/(both opposed alignments), which means that a natural or weapon attack must be aligned to both of the character's opposed alignments to be able to bypass this Damage Reduction. Furthermore, whenever the Soulborn uses Smite Opposition against an appropriately-aligned Outsider that does not have the Native subtype, that Outsider is subject to a Banishment effect (using the Soulborn level as the caster level- plus the Soulborn's weapon automatically counts as an object the subject hates). After the damage and the Banishment are resolved, the Smite immediately ends.

Starting Age: Soulborns start at Self-Taught age.
Starting Gold: Soulborn characters start with 5d6 × 10 gp (average 175).
 
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paradox42

First Post
Updated Feats

The following feats are originally from MoI, but required changes to bring them up to date. All of these have names done in Turquoise text, to call them out. Notice that I'm also including text and feats for Dreamscarred Press's psionics rules; the original MoI included feats for 3.5 psionics, so it would be remiss to update Incarnum and not use the most-current PF rules set. Besides which, my own setting utilizes psionics rules too, so I was doing the work anyway. :)

Also, as mentioned in a previous post, every single Incarnum feat in MoI should be understood as having the text about "Once per day, you can invest essentia into this feat/Once the amount of essentia invested is chosen, it cannot be altered and remains invested for 24 hours" eliminated. All Incarnum feats now explicitly allow investment after 1 minute of concentration, as part of the definition of the Incarnum feat category. Feats that had no changes besides this (for example, Healing Soul) aren't duplicated below, for that reason- it's implied rather than explicit.

Azure Enmity [Incarnum]

You can channel Incarnum to enhance your ability to deal damage to your Favored Enemies. Whenever you strike a Favored Enemy while essentia is invested in this feat, a gleam of faint blue radiance shines forth from your eyes.
Prerequisites: CON 13, Favored Enemy class feature.
Benefit: You gain an insight bonus equal to twice the amount of essentia invested in this feat on Bluff, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks made against all of your Favored Enemies. You also gain an insight bonus equal to twice the invested essentia on damage rolls against such creatures.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Azure Toughness [Incarnum]

You can use Incarnum to boost your physical vigor.
Prerequisite: CON 13.
Benefit: You gain three temporary hit points per point of invested essentia. For every hit die you possess beyond 3, you gain a further one temporary hit point per point of invested essentia. The essentia remains invested in the feat even after the temporary hit points from it are lost, but if you increase the amount of essentia invested in this feat, then you gain more temporary hit points to match the investment made.
You gain 1 point of essentia.
Special: Azure Toughness can be used in place of the Toughness feat to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other special ability.

Cobalt Expertise [Combat, Incarnum]

By channeling the soul energy of weapon masters past, present, and future, you become more adept at maneuvers of skill and expertise.
Prerequisites: CON 13, INT 13, Combat Expertise.
Benefit: You gain an insight bonus equal to the amount of essentia invested in this feat on Bluff checks made to Feint in combat, and to CMB and CMD for any Dirty Trick, Disarm, Reposition, Steal, or Trip combat maneuvers you become involved in. You also gain an insight bonus equal to the invested essentia on AC when using Combat Expertise, up to a maximum value equal to the penalty you take on attack rolls (for example, if your BAB is +9, the maximum AC boost you can get from this feat is +3, even if you have 4 or more essentia invested in it).
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Cobalt Power [Combat, Incarnum]

By channeling the soul energy of brutal warriors past, present, and future, you become more capable of overcoming your enemies through sheer strength.
Prerequisites: CON 13, STR 13, Power Attack.
Benefit: You gain an insight bonus equal to the amount of essentia invested in this feat to CMB and CMD for any Bull Rush, Drag, Overrun, or Sunder combat maneuvers you become involved in. You also gain an insight bonus equal to the invested essentia on damage rolls when using Power Attack, up to a maximum value equal to the penalty you take on attack rolls (for example, if your BAB is +9, the maximum damage bonus you can get from this feat is +3, even if you have 4 or more essentia invested in it). This bonus damage is not increased or decreased based on the type of weapon you are using (or how you are using it), the way bonus damage from Power Attack is- that is, it grants you the same bonus whether you are using a Bastard Sword in two hands or a Dagger in your off-hand.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Divine Soultouch

You can Channel Positive or Negative Energy to imbue yourself with Incarnum.
Prerequisites: CON 13, Channel Energy class feature.
Benefit: You can spend a Channel Energy use (whether Positive or Negative) as a free action to add 1 point of temporary essentia to your essentia pool for 1 minute per point of WIS bonus you have (minimum 1 minute). For the duration of this effect, your essentia capacity in all soulmelds, Incarnum feats, and other essentia-powered abilities is increased by 1. You can use this ability once per round, but only when you do currently not have temporary essentia granted by this feat in your essentia pool- you are only allowed to have one "active" Divine Soultouch at a time. If you use Channel Energy in this way, it has no other effect (it does not heal or harm nearby creatures).

Indigo Strike [Incarnum]

You can channel Incarnum to enhance your ability to deal damage with your Devastating Touch, Disrupt Pattern, or Sneak Attack. When you do so, your eyes turn dark blue.
Prerequisites: CON 13, Devastating Touch, Disrupt Pattern, or Sneak Attack class feature.
Benefit: You gain an insight bonus on damage rolls made when delivering attacks with the Devastating Touch, Disrupt Pattern, or Sneak Attack class feature equal to twice the invested essentia. If you have more than one of the listed class features, the bonus applies only once on any given attack.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Psycarnum Infusion [Psionic]

You transform your mental focus into a brief burst of soul energy.
Prerequisites: CON 13, 4 ranks in Autohypnosis.
Benefit: To use this feat, you must expend your psionic focus. Until the start of your next turn, one of your soulmelds, Incarnum feats, class features, or other Incarnum receptacles is treated as if it had essentia invested in it equal to its maximum essentia capacity. You don't gain any bonus essentia from this effect.

Sapphire Smite [Incarnum]


You can channel Incarnum to enhance your ability to deliver mighty blows. When you do so, your eyes glisten as if they had become brilliant blue gemstones.
Prerequisites: CON 13, Smite Evil, Smite Opposition, or similar class feature.
Benefit: When you have a Smite active, you gain an insight bonus equal to twice the amount of essentia invested in this feat on attack rolls and damage rolls against the target of your Smite.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Soulsight [Incarnum]

You can attune your soul to sense living creatures near you. When you use this feat, your eyes glow with a blue luminescence.
Prerequisites: CON 13, WIS 13, 4 ranks in Perception.
Benefit: While essentia is invested in this feat, you can activate Lifesense (see Pathfinder Bestiary 2, page 298) as a move action. In contrast to the ability description, the Lifesense granted by this feat can also detect Undead creatures (not just living ones), and has a range equal to 10 feet per point of invested essentia, rather than a static 60 feet. Once activated, the Lifesense granted by this feat lasts until the start of your next turn.
If you have the ability to bind a soulmeld to your Brow Chakra (whether or not you have one so bound when you use this feat), then the Lifesense granted by this feat lasts for 1 round per point of WIS bonus you have, rather than until the start of your next turn.
You gain 1 point of essentia.
 
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paradox42

First Post
New Feats

These are feats specifically designed to be used with this whole package of PF Incarnum rules. A couple are specific to Incarnum classes, but most are designed to let other classes use little bits of Incarnum if they want to. Only one of these (Necrotic Smite) has been playtested, though Extra Radiance is exactly in line with other similar feats such as Extra Rage and Extra Performance, so those should be good. I did my best to balance these out against existing feats, after the experience of regularly using Cobalt Power & Expertise and Sapphire Smite with the playtest Soulborn character, but of course- YMMV.

Azure Arcana [Incarnum]

You can channel Incarnum into your Arcane Pool to increase its capacity.
Prerequisites: CON 13, INT 13, Arcane Pool class feature.
Benefit: Once per day per point of essentia invested in this feat, you may use a swift action to take 1 point of essentia damage and add 1 point to your Arcane Pool. If you choose to take the damage by divesting essentia from this feat, it does not reduce the number of daily uses you have remaining during that day- but the number of remaining daily uses will not increase unless you invest more essentia into this feat than you had invested in it when you recharged your Arcane Pool.
Essentia damage taken as a result of using this feat heals when you next regain your Arcane Pool points, regardless of how much essentia damage you took- that is, it is effectively erased by a single night's rest. Any essentia damage you took beyond damage incurred by use of this feat remains in place and must be healed normally. Essentia damage normally heals in exactly the same manner as ability damage, meaning 1 point per day (or 2 points with complete bed rest).
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Azure Archery [Combat, Incarnum]

By channeling the soul energy of great archers, marksmen, sharpshooters and snipers of all times, you become better able to shoot your foes with ranged attacks.
Prerequisites: CON 13, DEX 13, Deadly Aim.
Benefit: You gain an insight bonus equal to the amount of essentia invested in this feat on attack rolls and damage rolls when using ranged attacks. You also gain an insight bonus equal to the invested essentia on AC to avoid attacks of opportunity for attacking with a ranged weapon within a foe's threatened area.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Azure Challenge [Incarnum]

You can channel Incarnum to increase the power and force of your Challenge. When you use this feat, you exhale puffs of glowing blue smoke (or bubbles, underwater) with every breath.
Prerequisites: CON 13, Challenge or Far Challenge class feature.
Benefit: When you use your Challenge ability, add twice the amount of essentia invested in this feat as an insight bonus to whatever bonus or bonuses the Challenge grants you. For example, a 4th-level Cavalier of the Order of the Dragon who has 1 essentia invested in this feat grants his allies a +4 total bonus on melee attack rolls against the target of the Challenge (+2 from Cavalier levels alone, +2 from this feat).
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Azure Channeling [Incarnum]

You can channel Incarnum to purify and enhance the energy you are normally capable of channeling. When you use this feat, your brow is enveloped in a brilliant blue corona.
Prerequisites: CON 13, CHA 13, Channel Energy class feature.
Benefit: When you use your Channel ability, add the amount of essentia invested in this feat to your class level to determine the effects of the Channel.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Cerulean Collective [Incarnum, Psionic]

Channeling the soul energy of hiveminds, swarming creatures, and masters of psionics which merge thoughts, you increase the capacity of your collective. While you have essentia invested in this feat, your eyes flash bright blue for a moment whenever you add a member to your collective, manifest a power through it, or use another ability upon a member of the collective that was granted to you by the class that grants you the Collective feature in the first place (for example, a Vitalist using Health Sense, or a Tactician using Coordinated Strike).
Prerequisites: CON 13, WIS 13, Collective class feature.
Benefit: Your collective's size limit increases by one creature per point of essentia invested in this feat. You also gain an insight bonus equal to the amount of essentia invested in this feat on Fortitude saves made to avoid losing power points and becoming Sickened if a member of your collective dies.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Cobalt Bomber [Incarnum]

You can channel Incarnum to enhance the power of your Bombs. When you use this feat, bombs you throw glow blue and explode with a distinct bluish color in addition to whatever colors they normally exhibit.
Prerequisites: CON 13, Bomb class feature.
Benefit: Whenever you throw a Bomb, you gain an insight bonus equal to the amount of essentia invested in this feat on the attack roll. In addition, when the Bomb explodes, it deals extra damage equal to twice the amount of essentia invested in this feat.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Cobalt Concentration [Incarnum]

You can channel Incarnum to better focus your thoughts on a task. When you use this feat, your eyes and the top of your head acquire a deep blue tinge, as if they were wrapped in a translucent blue film.
Prerequisites: CON 13, Will save bonus +2.
Benefit: Whenever you need to make a Concentration check, you gain an insight bonus equal to twice the number of essentia invested in this feat. This applies regardless of the reason for making the Concentration check- it is just as applicable when you are on a boat in a storm, as it is when you are struck by a crossbow bolt in a battle.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Cobalt Fists [Combat, Incarnum]

By channeling the soul energy of great monks, martial artists and wrestlers of all times, you become better able to hurt your foes without using weapons.
Prerequisites: CON 13, DEX 13, Improved Unarmed Strike.
Benefit: You gain an insight bonus equal to the amount of essentia invested in this feat on attack rolls and damage rolls when fighting with unarmed strikes. You also gain an insight bonus equal to the invested essentia on CMB and CMD when you are involved in a Grapple combat maneuver.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Cobalt Grit [Combat, Grit, Incarnum]

By channeling the soul energy of great gunslingers past, present, and future, you gain greater ability to perform amazing Deeds in combat.
Prerequisites: CON 13, WIS 13, Grit class feature.
Benefit: Your Grit limit increases by a number of points equal to the amount of essentia invested in this feat. If you decrease the amount of essentia invested in this feat, and this decreases your Grit limit below the number of Grit points you currently have, then you lose the extra Grit without any benefit to you. As long as you have at least 1 point of essentia invested in this feat, you count as having 1 Grit point for the purposes of using Deeds which require you to have at least 1 Grit point to use them (such as Quick Clear or Startling Shot), even if you actually have no Grit points in your pool. At the start of the day, when you regain Grit, you gain a number of Grit points equal to the amount of essentia invested in this feat in addition to the Grit points you would normally gain.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Cobalt Tactician [Incarnum]

You can channel Incarnum to imbue your tactical knowledge into allies more deeply. When you use this feat, your eyes and brow glow deep blue.
Prerequisites: CON 13, CHA 13, Tactician class feature.
Benefit: When you use your Tactician ability, add twice the amount of essentia invested in this feat to the number of rounds your allies gain the feat. In addition, when you activate your Tactician ability, add 5 feet per point of essentia invested in this feat to the range within which an ally can be to gain the Teamwork feat from you. For example, a 6th-level Cavalier with 2 essentia invested in this feat grants allies within 40 feet the use of a chosen Teamwork feat when he uses Tactician, and the allies can use that feat for up to 10 rounds (3 + 3 from Cavalier levels + 4 from this feat).
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Extra Radiance

You can use your Incarnum Radiance ability more often than normal.
Prerequisite: Incarnum Radiance class feature.
Benefit: You can use Incarnum Radiance for 6 additional rounds per day.
Special: You can gain Extra Radiance multiple times. Its effects stack.

Indigo Judgment [Incarnum]

You can channel Incarnum to increase the power of your divine Judgment. When you use this feat, your brow is enveloped in a dark blue aura.
Prerequisites: CON 13, Judgment class feature.
Benefit: Whenever you use your Judgment, add the amount of essentia invested in this feat to the benefit granted by the form of Judgment you are using. For example, when you use Destruction, each point of invested essentia grants you an additional +1 on weapon damage rolls; when you use Healing, each point of invested essentia grants you an extra point of Fast Healing; when you use Resiliency, each point of invested essentia increases your DR by 1.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Midnight Mutagen [Incarnum]

You can channel Incarnum to increase the length of time you gain the effects of a Mutagen or Cognatogen. When you are under the effects of a Mutagen or Cognatogen with essentia invested in this feat, your mouth and eyes are enveloped in a dark blue radiance.
Prerequisites: CON 13, Cognatogen or Mutagen class feature.
Benefit: Whenever you use a Cognatogen or Mutagen that you mixed yourself, its duration increases by 20 minutes per point of essentia invested in this feat.
You gain 1 point of essentia.

Necrotic Smite

You can channel your Necrotic Touch through melee weapon attacks.
Prerequisites: Necrotic Touch class feature, CON 13, CHA 13.
Benefit: Once per round, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon or natural attack (including unarmed attacks), you deal your weapon's damage normally- but you may immediately use your Necrotic Touch ability on the target of the attack, as a free action. This Necrotic Touch does not need a separate attack roll to hit, it simply deals its damage through the weapon. This Necrotic Touch damage is considered bonus damage on the original attack, and is therefore not multiplied on a critical hit the way other damage from the attack would be.
Normal: Necrotic Touch is a melee touch attack requiring a standard action to use.

Quicken Reallocation

You can reinvest essentia in your Incarnum feats and similar Incarnum receptacles just as quickly as you can with soulmelds.
Prerequisites: CHA 17, essentia pool 1, Rapid Reallocation, Swifter Reallocation, 10 ranks in Knowledge (Arcana).
Benefit: You can reinvest essentia in your Incarnum feats, racial Incarnum abilities, and other similar essentia-powered abilities that work like Incarnum feats for purposes of essentia investment, as a swift action- exactly as you can with soulmelds.
Normal: Without this feat, it takes one full minute of concentration to reinvest essentia into Incarnum feats and similar abilities.

Rapid Reallocation

You can reinvest essentia in your Incarnum feats and similar Incarnum receptacles quickly.
Prerequisites: CHA 13, essentia pool 1, 5 ranks in Knowledge (Arcana).
Benefit: You can reinvest essentia in your Incarnum feats, racial Incarnum abilities, and other similar essentia-powered abilities that work like Incarnum feats for purposes of essentia investment, as a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity and requires concentration.
Normal: Without this feat, it takes one full minute of concentration to reinvest essentia into Incarnum feats and similar abilities.

Swifter Reallocation

You can reinvest essentia in your Incarnum feats and similar Incarnum receptacles even more quickly.
Prerequisites: CHA 15, essentia pool 1, Rapid Reallocation, 5 ranks in Knowledge (Arcana).
Benefit: You can reinvest essentia in your Incarnum feats, racial Incarnum abilities, and other similar essentia-powered abilities that work like Incarnum feats for purposes of essentia investment, as a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity and requires concentration.
Normal: Without this feat, it takes one full minute of concentration to reinvest essentia into Incarnum feats and similar abilities.
 

paradox42

First Post
Soulborn Archetypes

Nobody but me has come up with Archetypes for these PF Incarnum classes, or at any rate if the other two have then they haven't told me about them. Since the Soulborn changes from my post on page 1 of this thread were very short and small, I figure I can just leave off with making a whole new table for the class and go straight to detailing the two Archetypes I came up with. Certainly, these aren't the only ways one could go; in fact, it was an attempt to come up with an "Elemental Soulborn Archetype" that led to the creation of the Elementborn (detailed in a separate post above).

But these two are fairly simple. Purist was relatively easy: the Xenophobe I think is more interesting, particularly for a villain or an Evil-aligned game. I wonder how a Xenophobe would do in the Way of the Wicked AP? I haven't played it or even read through most of it, so I have no basis on which to judge. But I'd love to see one played, regardless of AP or dungeon, even if only to see how it turns out.

The Archetypes:

Purist:
A few who take up the calling of the Soulborn are not extremists in the standard sense; that is, they do not espouse the extreme alignments (such as Lawful Good or Chaotic Evil). Indeed, the existence of the Incarnate proves that people can be just as passionate about the pure alignments (such as Neutral Good or Lawful Neutral) as they can about the extreme ones. The Soulborns who feel this way have slightly different abilities than a standard Soulborn, as a result of their different convictions, and in some ways are closer to Incarnates than standard Soulborns are.


Class Features:
All of the following are class features of the Purist Soulborn.


  • Alignment: A Purist can be of any Neutral alignment, including True Neutral, but cannot be any of the four extreme alignments (that is, the alignments that standard Soulborns have).
    This affects the available opposed alignments for the Purist's Detect Opposition and Smite Opposition abilities (a Purist has only one unless True Neutral, while normal Soulborns have two), and also affects the allies who can benefit from the Purist's Aura-based abilities (for example, a Neutral Good Purist Soulborn can help all allies who are not Evil). True Neutral Purists treat extreme alignments (Lawful Good, Chaotic Good, Lawful Evil, and Chaotic Evil) as "opposed" for the purpose of using these abilities.
  • Meldshaping: Purists add Incarnate Avatar and Incarnate Weapon to their class soulmeld list, and use them identically to Incarnates of the same alignment (for example, a Neutral Evil Purist Soulborn would use an Evil-aligned Incarnate Avatar and Weapon).
  • Incarnum Defense (Su): A Purist's Incarnum Defense differs from a standard Soulborn's, depending upon the character's alignment. The Incarnum Defenses for each allowed Purist alignment are listed below.
    • Neutral Good: The Purist's eyes become a deep, multi-hued blue in color with no visible pupil or iris. The character becomes immune to the Nauseated condition (effects that would cause nausea render the character Sickened instead).
    • Chaotic Neutral: The Purist's eyes become orbs of a solid color that constantly changes, shifting hue every time the Purist blinks. The character becomes immune to the Stunned condition (effects that would cause Stunning render the character Staggered instead).
    • Neutral Evil: The Purist's eyes become solid purple, with no visible pupil or iris. The character becomes immune to Fear.
    • Lawful Neutral: The Purist's eyes become orbs of solid white. The character becomes immune to the COnfused condition and all forms of Insanity.
    • True Neutral: The Purist's eyes become deep nut-brown orbs. The character becomes immune to Blindness and the Dazzled condition.
  • Pure Champion (Su): A 20th-level Purist becomes an Outsider with the alignment subtype matching his or her alignment, with True Neutral Purists gaining no alignment subtype (though unlike other Outsiders, the Purist can still be brought back from the dead as if he or she were a member of the previous creature type). The character gains DR 10/(opposed alignments), with True Neutral Purists gaining DR 10/Extreme-Aligned (which means that a weapon must have two alignment types, for example Chaotic and Good, to penetrate the DR). Furthermore, whenever the Purist uses Smite Opposition against an appropriately-aligned Outsider that does not have the Native subtype, that Outsider is subject to a Banishment effect (using the Soulborn level as the caster level- plus the Purist's weapon automatically counts as an object the subject hates). After the damage and the Banishment are resolved, the Smite immediately ends.
    This ability replaces Champion Incarnate.

Xenophobe:
Rather than feeling passionate about alignments, and gaining a connection to unbodied souls thereby, some individuals feel a passion for their own race- and seek to defend it against all other creatures (and particularly, by hunting and killing those creatures) They gain similar powers to other Soulborns, but have a connection to the souls of ancestors (especially ancestors who died at the hands of some other race or creature type) rather than to the planes of morality and conviction. A true Xenophobe receives power from an incredible passion and zeal for his or her own race as a cosmic presence and force. This passion allows the Xenophobe to contact the souls of his or her people, whether long dead or as-yet unborn, and create Incarnum from them to use in aiding the crusade against others.


Class Features:
All of the following are class features of the Xenophobe.


  • Alignment: A Xenophobe can be of any non-Good alignment, though most tend to be Evil because that morality best matches their personal life goals.
  • Aligned Soulmelds: Unlike standard Soulborns, Xenophobes are unrestricted in their selection of soulmelds- as long as those soulmelds are on the Soulborn list. They can shape soulmelds with any alignment descriptor or descriptors that they like, and many deliberately explore soulmeld combinations containing opposed alignment descriptors, such as Armguards of Disruption paired with Gloves of the Poisoned Soul.
  • Xenophobia (Ex): A Xenophobe character has a -5 penalty on Diplomacy checks that involve interaction with people and creatures other than his or her own race or nation, and cannot willingly travel or ally with any such creature(s) unless he or she first makes a Will save (DC 10 + the other creature's CHA modifier).
  • Favored Enemy (Ex): At 1st level, the Xenophobe selects a creature type from the Ranger Favored Enemies table (Core, page 64). He or she gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against creatures of the selected type. Likewise, he or she gains a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against them. A Xenophobe may make Knowledge skill checks untrained when attempting to identify these creatures.
    At 6th level and every 6 levels thereafter (12th, 18th, etc.), the Xenophobe may select an additional Favored Enemy. In addition, at each such interval, the bonus against any one Favored Enemy (including the one just selected, if desired) increases by +2.
    If the Xenophobe chooses Humanoids or Outsiders as a Favored Enemy, he or she must also choose an associated subtype, as indicated on the table. If a specific creature falls into more than one category of Favored Enemy, the Xenophobe's bonuses do not stack; the character simply uses whichever bonus is highest.
    Unlike a Ranger, a Xenophobe is not allowed to pick Animal, Construct, Magical Beast, or Ooze as a Favored Enemy type until after he or she has already selected a different creature type as a Favored Enemy at a previous level. Also, a Xenophobe is never allowed to select his or her own creature type and subtype as a Favored Enemy (for example, a Human Xenophobe is never allowed to select Humanoid (Human) as a Favored Enemy type). If a Xenophobe character takes levels in Ranger, then he or she is allowed to break the first condition, but never the second- having any levels in Xenophobe prevents a character from ever having his or her own race as a Favored Enemy. Should a character who already has his or her own race as a Favored Enemy take a level of Xenophobe, then the Favored Enemy bonus for the character's own race is converted to a new Favored Enemy that he or she selects at 1st level; the old bonus against the character's own race is permanently lost.
    This ability replaces Detect Opposition and Incarnum Defense.
  • Smite Enemy (Su): Once per day, a Xenophobe can call upon the power of the souls of his or her race to aid in the struggle against his or her Favored Enemies. As a swift action, the Xenophobe chooses one target within sight to Smite. If this target's creature type (and subtype, if appropriate) is one of the Xenophobe's Favored Enemy selections, then the Xenophobe adds his or her CHA bonus (if any) to attack rolls, and his or her Xenophobe level to all damage rolls, against the target of the Smite. Smite Enemy attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess. If the Xenophobe targets a creature that is not one of his or her Favored Enemy types, then the Smite is wasted with no effect.
    In addition, while Smite Enemy is in effect, the Xenophobe gains a Deflection bonus equal to his or her CHA modifier (if any) to AC against attacks made by the target of the Smite.
    The Smite Enemy effect remains until the target of the Smite is dead, or the next time the Xenophobe rests and regains his or her uses of this ability. At 4th level, and every three levels thereafter, the Xenophobe may Smite Enemy one additional time per day.
    This ability replaces Smite Opposition.
  • Share Hatred (Su): As a standard action, a Xenophobe can share the power of his or her hatred of Favored Enemies with all allies within a radius of 5 feet (plus 5 feet per point of essentia invested in the Aura) that do not themselves qualify as Favored Enemies of the Xenophobe. Affected creatures are granted the same bonuses against various Favored Enemies that the Xenophobe him/herself enjoys, for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the Xenophobe's CHA modifier. This bonus explicitly does stack with a Ranger's Favored Enemy bonus, if the Xenophobe happens to Share Hatred with a Ranger who has selected Favored Enemies matching those the Xenophobe has. The Xenophobe can use this ability one additional time per day for every four levels gained above 5th (2/day at 9th, 3/day at 13th, etc.).
    This ability replaces Share Incarnum Defense.
  • Aura of Conviction (Su): This ability works the same for a Xenophobe as it does for a Soulborn, except that the Xenophobe grants the benefit to allies which do not qualify as Favored Enemies to him or her (rather than being based upon the alignment of the allies, which is irrelevant to the Xenophobe)- and, of course, the Xenophobe spends two uses of Smite Enemy to grant the ability, rather than Smite Opposition.
  • Aura of Zeal (Su): At 18th level, the Xenophobe becomes immune to Compulsion effects. His or her attacks automatically bypass any alignment-based DR for any creatures for which he or she gains any Favored Enemy bonus, regardless of which alignment or alignments are actually required or involved; effectively, the Xenophobe's anti-(whatever) zeal is enough to afflict such targets as their anathematic alignments do. Any attack made by any ally of the Xenophobe within a radius of 5 feet (plus 5 per point of essentia invested in the Aura) is treated as similarly aligned, as long as that ally does not count as a creature on the Xenophobe's Favored Enemies list. Finally, all allies within the Aura radius who do not count as Favored Enemies to the Xenophobe gain a +4 morale bonus to Will saving throws against Compulsion effects. This ability functions only while the Xenophobe is conscious, not if the character is unconscious or dead.
    This ability replaces Aura of Inevitability.
  • Racial Paragon (Ex): At 20th level, the Xenophobe loses all Flaws he or she previously had, if any, and also gains DR 5/Adamantine. Furthermore, whenever the Xenophobe uses Smite Enemy against a foe, he or she can use a swift action during a round in which the Smite is active to give all of his or her weapons the Bane special quality against the creature type of the Smite's target. After the damage from that round's attacks (including the Bane effects) is resolved, the Smite immediately ends.
    This ability replaces Champion Incarnate.
 

paradox42

First Post
True Necrocarnate Changes and Archetypes

Reading back over the Necrocarnate as I posted it back in 2011, I see no changes in the present version other than these:
  • Class Skills: Add Disguise (CHA), Sleight of Hand (DEX), and Stealth (DEX) to the True Necrocarnate's class skills list. This makes the full list Bluff (CHA), Craft (any) (INT), Disguise (CHA), Fly (DEX), Intimidate (CHA), Knowledge (Arcana, Planes, Religion) (INT), Profession (any) (WIS), Sleight of Hand (DEX), Spellcraft (INT), and Stealth (DEX). Skill points per level are unchanged- 4 + INT per level.
  • Starting Age: Self-Taught.
  • Starting Gold: 4d6 x 10 gp (average 140).
  • Trap the Soul: To eliminate possible confusion with the spell of the same name, this ability's name is changed to Soul Trap in the current version of the class. The actual mechanics of its operation are unchanged.

Class
Level
Base Attack
Bonus
Fortitude
Save
Reflex
Save
Will
Save
SpecialSoulmeldsEssentia
Limit
Chakra
Binds
1st+0+2+0+2Aura of Evil, Chakra Bind (Least), Essentia Drain (1), Necrotic Touch (1d6)211
2nd+1+3+0+3Shield of Souls321
3rd+2+3+1+3Chakra Bind (Least), Necrotic Touch (2d6)322
4th+3+4+1+4Essentia Drain (2)432
5th+3+4+1+4Chakra Bind (Least), Necrotic Touch (3d6)452
6th+4+5+2+5Expanded Necro Capacity +1463
7th+5+5+2+5Chakra Bind (Lesser), Necrotic Touch (4d6)573
8th+6/+1+6+2+6Essentia Drain (3)573
9th+6/+1+6+3+6Chakra Bind (Lesser), Necrotic Touch (5d6)583
10th+7/+2+7+3+7Soul Trap6114
11th+8/+3+7+3+7Chakra Bind (Lesser), Necrotic Touch (6d6)6124
12th+9/+4+8+4+8Essentia Drain (4)6134
13th+9/+4+8+4+8Chakra Bind (Greater), Necrotic Touch (7d6)7144
14th+10/+5+9+4+9Expanded Necro Capacity +27155
15th+11/+6/+1+9+5+9Chakra Bind (Greater), Necrotic Touch (8d6)7185
16th+12/+7/+2+10+5+10Essentia Drain (5)8195
17th+12/+7/+2+10+5+10Chakra Bind (Heart), Necrotic Touch (9d6)8205
18th+13/+8/+3+11+6+11Essentia Storm 1/day8226
19th+14/+9/+4+11+6+11Chakra Bind (Soul), Necrotic Touch (10d6)9246
20th+15/+10/+5+12+6+12Deathless, Essentia Drain (6)9286
[h=4]Class Features:[/h] All of the following are class features of the True Necrocarnate.
  • Weapon and Armor Proficiency: True Necrocarnates are proficient with all Simple weapons, Light armor, and Shields (but not Tower Shields).
  • Meldshaping: A True Necrocarnate has the ability to shape soulmelds, which are drawn from the True Necrocarnate soulmeld list. All True Necrocarnates know (and can shape) all soulmelds from this list, but note that shaping soulmelds designated as Necrocarnum activates the character's Aura of Evil class feature (see below). Importantly, True Necrocarnates are not restricted from shaping any soulmelds on their class list by alignment or other descriptors.
    The DC for a saving throw against a True Necrocarnate's soulmeld is 10 + the number of points of essentia invested in the soulmeld + the True Necrocarnate's CHA modifier. The Meldshaper Level is equal to the True Necrocarnate level.
    A True Necrocarnate can shape only a certain number of soulmelds on his or her person at any one time. This base allotment is given in the class table above. The maximum number of soulmelds that the character can have shaped simultaneously is equal to his or her CON score minus 10, or the number of soulmelds allowed for his or her True Necrocarnate level, whichever is lower. At 1st level, a True Necrocarnate can shape two soulmelds at a time (assuming he or she has a CON score of at least 12). As the character advances in level, he or she can shape an increasing number of soulmelds.
    Unlike other meldshapers, a True Necrocarnate does not gain a pool of personal essentia at 1st level- True Necrocarnates do not naturally possess essentia, they steal it (see Essentia Drain below).
    A True Necrocarnate does not study or prepare soulmelds in advance, but must have a good night's rest and must meditate for 1 hour to shape his or her soulmelds (see Shaping Soulmelds, on page 49 of MoI).
  • Essentia Drain (Su): True Necrocarnates do not gain points of essentia from True Necrocarnate class levels, unlike other meldshaping classes; however, a True Necrocarnate does have an essentia pool which may be filled by stealing essentia from other creatures. Essentia in this pool can be invested into soulmelds to increase their power, just as essentia from any other sources can be. Should the True Necrocarnate have a permanent essentia pool in addition to this "unfilled" pool from True Necrocarnate levels, then essentia from both pools may be combined and invested as normal for characters with multiple sources of essentia.
    For example, a True Necrocarnate with one Incarnum feat (all of which grant a point of essentia) has one permanent point of essentia which never goes away, and his or her maximum essentia limit is one higher than the number given in the True Necrocarnate class table above. As with other meldshapers and essentia users, the True Necrocarnate's character level determines the maximum quantity of essentia that he or she can invest in any single soulmeld, as noted in MoI on page 19 (table 2-1: Essentia Capacity). As a Swift Action, a True Necrocarnate can reallocate essentia investments in all of his or her Soulmelds, every round (see MoI, page 50, "Essentia").
    True Necrocarnates fill their essentia pool by draining power from living creatures. Whenever a True Necrocarnate deals damage to a living creature with the Necrotic Touch ability, or a special ability from any soulmeld with the Necrocarnum descriptor (such as the ranged touch attack granted by the Arms Chakra Bind of Necrocarnum Touch), he or she may use this ability as a free action to gain 1 point of essentia. At every 4th True Necrocarnate level, the character gains 1 more point of essentia when damaging a living creature this way.
    Essentia gained this way lasts for 24 hours, or until the character rests and reshapes all of his or her Soulmelds for the day, whichever comes first; during this time it can be invested and used as normal. When the drained essentia "expires," the True Necrocarnate's essentia pool is reduced to its base amount (typically 0, though a character with other sources of essentia may have permanent points that never go away, as described above) and is immediately reallocated as if the character took an action to reinvest essentia (though this "action" is involuntary and occurs whether the character wants it to or not).
    If a True Necrocarnate who is carrying drained essentia (acquired via this ability) dies, then all drained essentia immediately expires as noted above. If the character is brought back to life via Raise Dead or other similar means, his or her essentia pool will once again be empty/at its base level.
    Should a True Necrocarnate try to drain essentia from a target that is resistant to the Necrotic Touch (whether by Spell Resistance, or another method), then the character gains the standard amount of essentia if any damage at all from the Necrotic Touch affects the target; if the target takes no damage from the Necrotic Touch, however, then the character gains no essentia. It is possible for a True Necrocarnate to gain more points of essentia than were dealt as damage by the Necrotic Touch, though such an event is extremely unusual. A Necrotic Touch that removes temporary hit points from its target is considered to have damaged the target, for the purposes of Essentia Drain, even if the target took no real damage from the Touch.
  • Necrotic Touch (Su): A True Necrocarnate can steal the life force from his foes merely by touching them. As a standard action, a True Necrocarnate may make a melee touch attack against a target and deal 1d6 damage plus another 1d6 damage for every two True Necrocarnate levels beyond 1st. Objects, and creatures of the Construct type, take half damage from this ability, but creatures of the Undead type take full damage (despite not being "alive" in the technical sense). This ability does not allow a saving throw for reduced damage or effect, but it is subject to Spell Resistance (the True Necrocarnate's class level is used as the caster level for the roll).
  • Aura of Evil (Ex): A True Necrocarnate, even one of non-Evil alignment, generates an aura of Evil for the purposes of the Detect Evil spell as an Evil-aligned Cleric/Paladin of the same level as his or her True Necrocarnate level. This aura is not always active, however; even Evil-aligned True Necrocarnates only show an aura of Evil under specific conditions. The Aura of Evil is active (and detectable) only while the True Necrocarnate is carrying essentia drained from a living creature, or is using one or more Soulmelds with the Necrocarnum descriptor.
  • Chakra Binds: True Necrocarnates are more flexible than other meldshapers with regard to opening their various Chakras. Instead of gaining open Chakras at specific levels, as other meldshaping classes do, a True Necrocarnate instead chooses a not-yet-open Chakra of the appropriate tier upon gaining a True Necrocarnate class level noting a Chakra Bind. The Heart and Soul Chakras are gained at 17th and 19th levels, respectively, but otherwise the character chooses which Chakra to open at each odd-numbered level, according to the following lists. The Least Chakras are (Crown, Feet, Hands), while the Lesser Chakras are (Arms, Brow, Shoulders), and the Greater Chakras are (Throat, Waist). Thus, a 1st-level True Necrocarnate could start with the Crown Chakra, and upon attaining 3rd level could then choose to open Feet, and then Hands upon attaining 5th- but if desired, the character could instead start with Feet, then gain Hands at 3rd, and Crown at 5th.
  • Shield of Souls (Su): At 2nd level, a True Necrocarnate gains the ability to use the unwilling souls bound into Necrocarnum for other purposes. Once per day per two class levels, a True Necrocarnate can gain a profane bonus on saving throws equal to +1 per soulmeld with the Necrocarnum descriptor he or she has shaped (thus, a True Necrocarnate with 3 Necrocarnum melds shaped gains a +3 bonus). This bonus lasts for a number of rounds equal to the character's CHA modifier. Activating this ability is an immediate action.
  • Expanded Necro Capacity (Ex): At 6th level, and again at 14th, 22nd, and 30th level, the essentia capacity of any Soulmelds with the Necrocarnum descriptor increases by 1. This only affects Soulmelds with the Necrocarnum descriptor, not feats, class features, or other abilities involving or allowing essentia investment.
  • Soul Trap (Su): If a True Necrocarnate of 10th level or higher successfully uses Essentia Drain on a creature, then that creature's soul is bound up in the character's web of power. Should the creature die during the time the True Necrocarnate has essentia in his or her pool from that Essentia Drain action, then the creature cannot be brought back from the dead by any means until after the essentia expires from the True Necrocarnate's essentia pool, just as if the character had used Soul Bind on the creature. Once the drained essentia expires from the True Necrocarnate's essentia pool, for whatever reason, the creature may be brought back via normal means (and the character cannot thereafter reestablish the "trap"). A True Necrocarnate may choose to allow a "soul-trapped" creature to be brought back, but must do so voluntarily- coercion cannot be used to force the character to allow the creature to come back.
  • Essentia Storm (Su): An 18th-level True Necrocarnate gains the ability to disrupt the essentia drained from his or her targets, and break it up to release the energy held within. Once per day, as a standard action, the character can activate this ability to create a Burst of raw force in a 40-foot radius around himself. Once the energy cascade begins, it cannot be stopped; the True Necrocarnate's essentia pool is immediately drained back to its "empty" or base level (this also frees any creatures affected by the character's Soul Trap ability, as described above).
    For each point of essentia lost in this way, creatures within the radius take 1d4 points of Force damage; a Fortitude save (DC 10 + half the True Necrocarnate's level + the True Necrocarnate's CHA modifier) is allowed for half damage. Unlike the Necrotic Touch, this ability is not subject to Spell Resistance. Creatures of the Undead and Construct types take damage from this ability just as other creatures do, despite it using a Fortitude save; however, objects are not affected at all. The True Necrocarnate is not himself or herself harmed by this explosive burst, but any allies nearby take damage and make saving throws like any other creature caught in the radius. Also, since this leaves the True Necrocarnate drained of most energy and power, it is normally only used in truly desperate circumstances.
    At 24th level, and again at 30th level, the True Necrocarnate gains another daily use of this ability.
  • Deathless (Su): A 20th-level True Necrocarnate who has at least one Soulmeld with the Necrocarnum descriptor shaped gains the following abilities and immunities: Darkvision 60 feet; Immunity to: ability damage to physical ability scores (mental ability scores can still be damaged), ability drain, bleed, death effects, disease, energy drain, exhaustion, fatigue, nonlethal damage, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, stunning; Immunity to any effect that requires breathing (such as inhaled afflictions, "cloud" spells such as Cloudkill, etc.). The character does not need to breathe, eat, or sleep while this ability is active, though he or she must still rest for 8 hours (performing no significant activity) as normal for use of abilities (such as natural healing) that require rest.



With that, I can post these two Archetypes I came up with for it. As with the Soulborn Archetypes, these are presently untested, though they at least "feel right" to me. Other GMs, feel free to change/discard/use what you like, of course.

I've also long had an idea that there should be some sort of more-weapon-focused version of the class, a "Necrocarnum Thug" if you will, but haven't really figured out how to do it. I really don't like the idea of making yet another Alternate Class for it, but have a nagging suspicion that that may be the best (or only reasonable) way to do it. The idea would be to tone down the meldshaping and give it access to some Rogue and/or Ninja abilities in exchange- possibly also replacing the Necrotic Touch with Sneak Attack (the Essentia Drain would need to be changed if that happens, of course). Anybody who has thoughts on the subject, feel free to contribute!

The two existing Archetypes:

Necrocarnum Redeemer:

A few who deeply study the power of Necrocarnum are not dark-hearted or cruel at all, but are instead genuinely decent people.

Most such delvers into forbidden lore are scholars driven to learn at all costs, but some such watchers of darkness become convinced that the best way to defeat Evil is to turn its own weapons against it- or at least some of its tactics.

In addition to these, some students of meldshaping lore make a deliberate effort from the first moment they hear about Necrocarnum to penetrate the dark craft and learn its mysteries, so as to help outsiders be better prepared to defeat it; although many of these are seduced by the power offered by Necrocarnum and fall from the path of goodness, a few learn to balance their convictions against the dark powers of the Necrocarnate and keep their light in a realm of midnight.

Finally, a small number of True Necrocarnates, initially drawn to the craft for the usual reasons a person might be, repent of their wicked ways and spurn the evil within themselves in favor of turning to goodness- and yet, they know that their original training makes them unique weapons in the battle against darkness, and so they continue using it as best they can without compromising their new principles so as to wage their new war the way they have always fought- quietly and with devastatingly-hard strikes.

What all these different meldshapers have in common is the desire, conviction, and training to use Necrocarnum as a weapon to punish evildoers- most especially, other users of Necrocarnum (particularly those who make use of the soulmelds actually named "Necrocarnum," which universally involved torturing souls to draw extra power from their pain and anguish). Although they themselves also use Necrocarnum, they only use the less Evil sort involving merely forcing souls into subservience- and they are careful to use only Evil-aligned souls, or other Necrocarnum users, for the purpose of crafting such soulmelds.

Whether they are out to exact a form of cosmic justice upon those who abused souls for personal gain, or are trying to specifically extract the stain of evil from the souls they force into service by toiling for them in the service of Good, these unique meldshapers develop powers similar to other True Necrocarnates but turned toward very different purposes. The name by which they are most commonly known, "Redeemers," is a curse from the lips of the Necrocarnum users they most zealously target with their powers, but is a badge they themselves wear with honor and pride. Though misunderstood (even hunted, sometimes) by the Good-aligned people and organizations they help with their battles, Necrocarnum Redeemers are a potent tool in the eternal fight against evil for those who can look past surface details to consider the convictions within.


Class Features:
All of the following are class features of the Necrocarnum Redeemer.



  • Alignment: Any Good. Necrocarnum Redeemers may often be grim, shadowy and stealthy individuals, but all of their grimness results from determination to wreak a cosmic/karmic justice upon those who use and abuse Necrocarnum. At heart, they are pure and kind individuals, who only follow the dark path they take because few or no others know enough to even (metaphorically) set foot upon it.
  • Detect Evil (Sp): At will, a Necrocarnum Redeemer can use Detect Evil as a spell-like ability. A Necrocarnum Redeemer can, as a move action, concentrate on a single item or individual within 60 feet and determine if it is evil, learning the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds. While focusing on one individual or object, the Redeemer does not detect evil in any other object or individual within range.
    This ability replaces Aura of Evil.
  • Meldshaping: A Necrocarnum Redeemer adds the following soulmelds to his or her class list: Armguards of Disruption, Cerulean Sandals, Dissolving Spittle, Incarnate Avatar (Good only), Incarnate Weapon (Good only), Manticore Belt, Purewater Globes, Shedu Crown, Strongheart Vest, Threefold Mask of the Chimera, Truthseeker Goggles, Wind Cloak, and Worg Pelt.
    A Necrocarnum Redeemer loses the following soulmelds from his or her class list, and is unable to shape them: Gloves of the Poisoned Soul, Lamia Belt, Necrocarnum Avatar, Necrocarnum Boots, Necrocarnum Circlet, Necrocarnum Cloak, Necrocarnum Gauntlets, Necrocarnum Mantle, NecrocarnumMask, Necrocarnum Shroud, Necrocarnum Touch, Necrocarnum Vestments, and Necrocarnum Weapon.
    Necrocarnum Redeemers are unable to shape soulmelds with the Evil descriptor, even by taking feats; this is why they have the different soulmeld list described above.
    This ability otherwise works exactly like, and replaces, the standard True Necrocarnate's meldshaping ability.
  • Essentia Drain (Su): A Necrocarnum Redeemer's Essentia Drain class feature works exactly like the standard True Necrocarnate's class feature of the same name, except that it works when the Necrocarnum Redeemer uses his or her Steal Sin ability (see below) instead of Necrotic Touch, since the Redeemer does not have a Necrotic Touch.
  • Steal Sin (Su): Simply by touching it, a Necrocarnum Redeemer can steal the stain (and spiritual power) of evil directly from the soul of any creature with an INT score above 2, and convert it into soul energy for his or her own use (see Essentia Drain, above). As a standard action, the Redeemer may make a melee touch attack against a target; if it is sentient and has a nongood alignment, then it takes nonlethal damage as the energy of its evil drains out of it. Evil creatures take 1d8 points of nonlethal damage, plus 1d8 per two levels above 1st of the Necrocarnum Redeemer; Evil-aligned Dragons or Outsiders instead take 2d6 points (plus 2d6 per 2 levels above 1st). Creatures which have an alignment that is Neutral with respect to Good and Evil take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage, plus another 1d6 points per 2 levels above 1st.
    This ability is not subject to Spell Resistance, but the target is allowed a Will saving throw to take half damage. The save DC is equal to 10 + ½ the Necrocarnum Redeemer's class level + the Necrocarnum Redeemer's CHA modifier. Even if the save succeeds, the Necrocarnum Redeemer is allowed to drain essentia off of the target, whether or not any actual damage got through (in the case of creatures which take less nonlethal damage from an attack, or are immune to nonlethal damage).
    Should the Necrocarnum Redeemer use this ability against a Good-aligned target, or a creature with an INT score of 2 or less (or no INT score at all), then no damage is dealt, and the Redeemer can not use Essentia Drain for that use of Steal Sin.
    Abilities, effects, feats, or items which refer to the Necrotic Touch ability (which this replaces) can still be used by a Necrocarnum Redeemer; they affect Steal Sin instead when used by him or her. For example, the Necrotic Smite feat will let a Necrocarnum Redeemer add Steal Sin to a normal melee attack, just as it lets a standard True Necrocarnate add Necrotic Touch to one.
    This ability replaces Necrotic Touch.
  • Impose Guilt (Su): At 2nd level, a Necrocarnum Redeemer can do more than simply steal sins from a target- he or she can make the target feel bad about them. Once per day per 2 class levels, the Necrocarnum Redeemer can (as a swift action) alter his or her Steal Sin ability for 1 round per point of CHA bonus he or she has. During this time, any Steal Sin attempt the character makes does not deal nonlethal damage; instead, by causing the target to pause and reflect upon the evil it has done, it deals 1 point of CHA damage plus 1 point per 2 levels of the Redeemer above 1st. This special Steal Sin attack still allows the Necrocarnum Redeemer to use Essentia Drain, and also still allows the target a Will save for half damage.
    Also like Steal Sin, this ability deals no damage (and is wasted) if used upon a Good-aligned target or one with an INT score of 2 or less (or no INT score at all). However, unlike the standard Steal Sin ability, Impose Guilt can affect creatures of the Undead type (since it deals CHA damage)- and, in contrast to standard rules, it even works upon Construct creatures as well (as long as they fit the criteria of having an INT score above 2 and nongood alignment). Should the Redeemer successfully deal damage to an Undead or Construct creature with Impose Guilt, he or she is allowed to drain essentia off of that creature just as he or she would any other valid target of Steal Sin.
    This ability replaces Shield of Souls.
  • Redeem Soulmeld (Su): At 10th level, whenever a Necrocarnum Redeemer successfully uses Steal Sin (specifically, whenever the Redeemer could use Essentia Drain) upon a creature which has one or more soulmelds currently shaped, then that creature must make a Will save (in addition to the one already required by Steal Sin) or lose one of its soulmelds to the Redeemer. The DC of this saving throw is equal to 15 + ½ the Necrocarnum Redeemer's class level + the Necrocarnum Redeemer's CHA modifier.
    If the save is successful, then nothing further happens beyond the effects of Steal Sin and (if appropriate) Essentia Drain; if it fails, however, then one of the target's soulmelds (chosen at random) moves off of the target and onto the Redeemer. The stolen soulmeld occupies the same chakra on the Redeemer that it did on its original owner, and comes to the Redeemer with no essentia invested (essentia which was invested in it by its original owner is divested as soon as the soulmeld is stolen). The stolen soulmeld is not bound to the Redeemer's chakra, even if it was bound to its original owner's chakra, but otherwise grants the Necrocarnum Redeemer the same benefits that it granted its original owner (including allowing the Redeemer to invest essentia into it for greater benefits, as appropriate).
    This occurs regardless of whether or not the Necrocarnum Redeemer already has a soulmeld or magic item occupying the same chakra that the stolen soulmeld does- the stolen soulmeld does not count towards the Necrocarnum Redeemer's limits on soulmelds shaped in any way, though the Redeemer is allowed to unshape it like any other soulmeld he or she has shaped (see below for why the character might want to do this). The stolen soulmeld stays on the Necrocarnum Redeemer for up to 1 minute per point of CHA bonus he or she has, and then returns to its original owner if that creature is still alive to receive it; upon returning, a stolen soulmeld rebinds to any chakras it was bound to before being stolen, and although it does not automatically reacquire the essentia the creature had invested in it before it was stolen, essentia investment is of course easy to reallocate.
    There are two exceptions to this ability to steal soulmelds. First, a Necrocarnum Redeemer can only keep one stolen soulmeld at a time; if he or she is currently keeping a stolen soulmeld, then no target of his or her Steal Sin need make a save to avoid soulmeld stealing (because no soulmeld can be stolen until the first one is either unshaped or returns to its original owner). Second, this ability does not allow the Necrocarnum Redeemer to bypass the class restriction against using soulmelds with the Evil descriptor- but this second restriction is the reason this ability is named Redeem soulmeld, rather than simply Steal Soulmeld.
    Should the soulmeld selected for stealing by this ability be a soulmeld with the Evil descriptor- which the Necrocarnum Redeemer cannot have shaped as per the class restrictions on meldshaping- then the soulmeld is not transferred, but is instead unshaped in the process of transfer. Furthermore, if the stolen soulmeld had the Necrocarnum descriptor, or if the Redeemer unshapes a stolen Necrocarnum soulmeld that did not have the Evil descriptor, then the souls which were a part of the stolen soulmeld are grateful to the Redeemer at being freed, and provide him or her a parting gift in the form of healing. When the Necrocarnum Redeemer unshapes a stolen Necrocarnum soulmeld this way, he or she gains 5 hit points per point of essentia invested in the soulmeld when it was stolen, with any excess being gained as temporary hit points that last 1 hour.
    This ability replaces Soul Trap.


Necroconstructor:


The Midnight Construct spells were not created by accident, nor based on the researches of enterprising Wizards who thought that adding Incarnum to their own disciplines would be a good way to make new servants. In fact, the first Midnight Constructs were created by meldshapers who already knew how to work with soulstuff to craft objects of power- crafters who set out to take the possibilities of Incarnum to its limits and craft actual (if mindless) servants using the energy of souls. The fact that several Necrocarnum soulmelds specifically share the word "Midnight" with the Constructs is also not a coincidence; True Necrocarnates were the first to learn how to create full-blown artificial creatures using fused soul energy. Never common, even in regions where Necrocarnum meldshaping can be openly practiced, those who know how to create Midnight Constructs have occasionally left their teachings behind in writings for others to follow later. These texts are what the creators of the spells used to make their versions.

But of course, the spells are a poor substitute for the original craft, which is far more flexible and powerful when followed properly than mere magic can reproduce. Although it is rare, occasionally a student of Necrocarnum who is of a more scholarly bent than most seeks out (and finds) a master willing to teach the skills necessary to create the original, true Midnight Constructs. These students are most often called Necroconstructors by other members of the local True Necrocarnate guilds.


Class Features:
All of the following are class features of the Necroconstructor.


  • Meldshaping: A Necroconstructor has a soulmeld limit one less than normal- thus, a 5th-level Necroconstructor can shape at most 3 soulmelds, rather than 4.
    Also, a Necroconstructor has a personal pool of essentia, unlike most True Necrocarnates; a Necroconstructor's essentia pool is the same size as the Essentia Limit of a standard True Necrocarnate of the same level (for example, a 5th-level Necroconstructor has an essentia pool of 5 from class levels). Any essentia gained from a character's race or feat selections add to this essentia pool as normal. A Necroconstructor need not (in fact, never gains the ability to) drain essentia from other creatures to power his or her Incarnum receptacles.
    This ability otherwise functions as and replaces the standard True Necrocarnate Meldshaping class feature.
  • Minor Midnight Construct (Su): A Necroconstructor can use Astral Construct as (effectively) a Psi-Like Ability, using his or her True Necrocarnate level as the manifester level. In contrast to the standard power, however, the creations of this "power" are formed out of Necrocarnum rather than ectoplasm, and (importantly) are not formed using psionic energy at all- they can therefore be created (and operate within) areas of Null Psionics or Psionic Static with no penalty, as long as Supernatural abilities in general are not forbidden within those areas. Minor Midnight Constructs (that is, the creatures formed with this ability) have the Incarnum subtype, but are otherwise identical to Astral Constructs formed the same way by actual psionic manifesters. Also, this ability has a duration of 1 minute per manifester level, rather than the standard 1 round per level.
    This ability can be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the Necroconstructor's CHA bonus. Using this ability uses up the same meldshaping capability as that used to form the True Midnight Construct (see below), so this ability may only be used while the True Midnight Construct is dissipated or while the Necroconstructor does not currently have one formed at all.
    This ability replaces Essentia Drain.
  • True Midnight Construct (Su): By spending 8 hours in careful meldshaping and crafting, the Necroconstructor is able to form a Construct creature out of Incarnum and Necrocarnum, which obeys only him or her. This Midnight Construct functions as a Summoner's Eidolon using the Necroconstructor's True Necrocarnate level as the Summoner level, with the following exceptions.
    A Midnight Construct is a mindless Construct with the Incarnum subtype, not an Outsider, so it cannot be Banished or be hedged out like a Summoned creature. Commanding a Midnight Construct is the same as commanding any other mindless product of magic or psionics, such as an Astral Construct.
    If the Necroconstructor is rendered unconscious or dies, the Midnight Construct is automatically dissipated as if he or she had done so willingly (see below).
    The Midnight Construct can be dissipated at will as a standard action, remaining near the Necroconstructor but unable to act (effectively, becoming nonexistent but nevertheless remaining linked to its creator). While the Midnight Construct is thus dissipated, it can be reformed by spending 1 minute of concentration- the full 8 hours of crafting is only necessary if the Construct is permanently destroyed by having its hit points reduced to 0, or the Necroconstructor wishes to alter its selection of Evolutions. Importantly, the Midnight Construct's Evolutions are set during its crafting, and can be changed by spending another 8 hours of meldshaping as was necessary to create it in the first place. The 8 hour "construction" of a new Midnight Construct can only be done while the Necroconstructor either has no Midnight Construct, or while the existing Midnight Construct is dissipated.
    If the Midnight Construct is affected by an Incarnum-destroying effect such as Soulmeld Disjunction, it is treated as merely dissipated, not permanently destroyed, and may be reformed with the standard 1 minute of concentration as described above.
    This ability replaces Necrotic Touch.
  • Essentia Link (Su): At 4th level, the Necroconstructor is able to invest essentia in the True Midnight Construct as if it were a soulmeld. The True Midnight Construct does not otherwise count as a soulmeld for any other purpose (for example, counting against the character's maximum number of soulmelds shaped). The True Midnight Construct counts as a soulmeld with the Necrocarnum descriptor, for the purposes of determining its essentia capacity.
    At 4th level, essentia invested in the True Midnight Construct can be used to power the following functions:
    • Combat Power: +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls per point of essentia invested.
    • Damage Reduction: Increase the Construct's DR by 2 per point of essentia invested.
    • Land Speed Increase: Increase the Construct's land speed by 10 feet per point of essentia invested.
    At 8th level, essentia invested in the True Midnight Construct can be used to power the following functions in addition to those listed above:
    • Deadly Aura: Bestow a damaging aura. The aura deals 1d6 points of damage per point of essentia invested (Fortitude half; DC 10 + ½ Construct's HD + essentia invested) to all creatures adjacent to the Construct at the end of the Construct's turn.
    • Fly Speed: Increase the Construct's Fly speed by 20 feet per point of essentia invested. If the Construct did not previously have a Fly speed, then using this option grants it one with Perfect maneuverability.
    At 12th level, essentia invested in the True Midnight Construct can be used to power the following functions in addition to those listed above:
    • Soulburning Aura: Bestow a damaging aura of dark soul-energy. The aura deals 1 point of STR damage per point of essentia invested (Will negates; DC 10 + ½ Construct's HD + essentia invested) to all creatures adjacent to the Construct at the end of the Construct's turn.
    • Teleportation: Bestow the ability to teleport as a move action, with a range of 20 feet per point of essentia invested.
  • Bind Construct (Su): At 10th level, the Necroconstructor can treat the link between himself or herself and the True Midnight Construct even more like a soulmeld, by binding it to one of his or her open Chakras. Binding the True Midnight Construct to a Chakra requires 15 minutes of meldshaping, just as shaping a single soulmeld does, and requires that the Construct be in material form (as opposed to being dissipated) and take no action during the binding process. Once the Construct is bound, it cannot be bound to a different Chakra without first unbinding it; unbinding the Construct can be done as a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opprtunity. Binding the Construct to a Chakra does not restrict its actions in any way, but it does prevent the Necroconstructor from binding a magic item or actual soulmeld to that same Chakra (just as binding a real soulmeld would).
    Binding the True Midnight Construct to a Chakra provides the Necroconstructor with one or more benefits or abilities, depending upon which Chakra is bound. The possible abilities are listed below:
    • Crown: As a standard action, the Necroconstructor can share the senses of the True Midnight Construct, hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and touching everything it does. There is no range to this effect, but the Construct and the Necroconstructor must be on the same plane. The character can end this effect as a free action.
    • Feet: As a standard action, the Necroconstructor can call the True Midnight Construct to his or her side, as if by Dimension Door (using the character's True Necrocarnate level as the caster level). When thus called, the Construct appears adjacent to the Necroconstructor (or as close as possible if all adjacent spaces are occupied). If the Construct is out of range when the ability is used, then the ability is wasted.
      This ability can be used up to a number of times equal to the Necroconstructor's True Necrocarnate level before the Chakra Bind breaks (this is treated as if the character had willingly unbound the Construct from the Chakra, though it actually happens without the character's choice or any action being required on the part of the Construct or the character).
    • Hands: Whenever the Necroconstructor is within the True Midnight Construct's Reach, the character receives a +2 shield bonus to Armor Class and a +2 circumstance bonus on saving throws. This bonus does not apply if the Construct is Grappled or Helpless.
    • Arms: Whenever an ally is within the True Midnight Construct's Reach, the ally receives a +2 shield bonus to Armor Class and a +2 circumstance bonus on saving throws. If the ally is the Necroconstructor, these bonuses increase to +4. This bonus does not apply if the Construct is Grappled or Helpless.
    • Brow: Whenever the Necroconstructor is subjected to an effect or condition that does not deal hit point damage, he or she can attempt to divert the effect to the True Midnight Construct as an immediate action. To do this, the character must make a Spellcraft check (DC equal to 10 + the saving throw DC of the effect involved; if the effect has no saving throw DC, then the DC equals 10 + the CR of the source of the effect). The Spellcraft check gains a (unnamed) bonus equal to the number of essentia invested in the True Midnight Construct, if any.
      If the check succeeds, then the effect is treated as if the Construct had been the target all along; if the Construct happens to be immune to the effect (for example, it is a Poison, Disease, or a Hold Monster), then nothing happens and the effect is wasted.
      This ability can also be used to divert an effect which deals hit point damage along with some other effect, but doing this causes the Necroconstructor to take the hit point damage as normal (only the portion of the effect that does not deal hit point damage is transferred to the True Midnight Construct).
      This ability can be used up to a number of times equal to the Necroconstructor's True Necrocarnate level before the Chakra Bind breaks (this is treated as if the character had willingly unbound the Construct from the Chakra, though it actually happens without the character's choice or any action being required on the part of the Construct or the character).
    • Shoulders: The Necroconstructor removes up to 2 points' worth of Evolutions from the True Midnight Construct and adds those same Evolutions to himself or herself. The character must meet any requirements of the selected Evolutions in order to take them, and cannot select the Ability Increase Evolution. When the Construct becomes unbound from the Necroconstructor's Chakra for any reason, the character loses the chosen Evolutions and the Construct regains them.
    • Throat: As a standard action, the Necroconstructor can swap positions with the True Midnight Construct, as if both had used Dimension Door simultaneously (using the character's True Necrocarnate level as the caster level). If the Construct is out of range when the ability is used, then the ability is wasted.
      This ability can be used up to a number of times equal to the Necroconstructor's True Necrocarnate level before the Chakra Bind breaks (this is treated as if the character had willingly unbound the Construct from the Chakra, though it actually happens without the character's choice or any action being required on the part of the Construct or the character).
    • Waist: The Necroconstructor removes up to 6 points' worth of Evolutions from the True Midnight Construct and adds those same Evolutions to himself or herself. The character must meet any requirements of the selected Evolutions in order to take them, and cannot select the Ability Increase Evolution. When the Construct becomes unbound from the Necroconstructor's Chakra for any reason, the character loses the chosen Evolutions and the Construct regains them.
    • Heart: As long as the True Midnight Construct has 1 or more hit points, the Necroconstructor is protected from harm. Damage in excess of that which would reduce the Necroconstructor to 0 or fewer hit points is instead transferred to the Construct. This damage is transferred 1 point at a time, meaning that as soon as the Construct is reduced to 0 hit points, all excess damage remains with the Necroconstructor. Effects that cause death but not damage are unaffected by this ability. This ability also does not affect effects such as Baleful Polymorph, Flesh to Stone, or Imprisonment, which do not cause actual damage.
    • Soul: The Necroconstructor can treat the True Midnight Construct as though it were bound to two of his or her Chakras simultaneously, using the abilities listed above, though in fact the Construct is only bound to the Necroconstructor's Soul Chakra the entire time (allowing the Chakras associated with the chosen abilities to be bound to other soulmelds or items, as desired).
    This ability replaces Soul Trap.
  • Necrocarnum Animation (Su): Because a Necroconstructor is so familiar with using Necrocarnum to create and control creatures, he or she gains the ability to extend control over souls trapped between life and death to the minuscule soul energy remaining inside a corpse after the actual soul leaves it behind. As a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, a Necroconstructor with this ability can animate a corpse as a Necrocarnum Zombie by touching it. The creature chosen for this Animation must not have racial HD exceeding the Necroconstructor's own class level; class levels the creature had before dying are dropped, as per the standard rules of the Necrocarnum Zombie template noted on pages 188-189 of MoI.
    The Necroconstructor must invest at least 1 point of essentia into the Zombie as it is animated, and the Zombie remains animated only so long as the essentia is invested in it; should the character ever divest all essentia out of a corpse animated with this ability, the Necrocarnum Zombie falls dead as an inert corpse once again.
    The Necroconstructor is not limited as to the number of hit dice of creatures that can be animated this way, but can only keep one such Zombie animated at a time at 18th and 19th levels; at 20th level, the character can keep two such corpses animated simultaneously. The Necroconstructor must keep essentia invested in each target as noted above. Each Necrocarnum Zombie animated via this ability is considered a separate Incarnum receptacle for the purposes of essentia investment by the Necroconstructor who animated it; each point of essentia invested in such a Necrocarnum Zombie increases the Zombie's own essentia pool by 1 point (see the "Special Qualities" section of the Necrocarnum Zombie template, MoI page 188).
    Any one corpse can only be animated by Necrocarnum once. If a Necrocarnum Zombie animated by this ability (or by the Crown Chakra Bind ability of the Necrocarnum Circlet) is killed, or if a Necrocarnum Zombie animated via this ability has all essentia divested out of it, then the resulting corpse is forever afterward immune to any attempt to animate it via this ability or by the Crown Chakra Bind ability of Necrocarnum Circlet.
    This ability replaces Essentia Storm.
 
Last edited:

paradox42

First Post
The Current Version of the Incarnate

I've been going back and forth for days on whether to edit my original post on the Incarnate to make a proper table, using the new forum's features, but now I solidly come down on the side of Not. I'll instead just post the current version of the class, along with its two available Archetypes.

As with the version I posted in my second post in this thread (wayyy back on page 1), the class features listed for the Incarnate in MoI that didn't get changes for Pathfinder compatibility aren't listed below the table- assume they just work the same way. Several class features do get changes, though, for the True Neutral "Incarnate of Balance" that is a core version of the class in my PF-updated version.

On to the class listing!

Alignment: Incarnates can be any Neutral alignment (including True Neutral). The True Neutral Incarnate is called the Incarnate of Balance.

Class Skills: The Incarnate's class skills are: Craft (any) (INT), Fly (DEX), Knowledge (Arcana, Planes, Religion) (INT), Profession (any) (WIS), and Spellcraft (INT).

Class
Level
Base Attack
Bonus
Fortitude
Save
Reflex
Save
Will
Save
SpecialSoulmeldsEssentiaChakra
Binds
1st+0+2+0+2Aura, Chakra Bind (Crown), Detect Opposition211
2nd+1+3+0+3Chakra Bind (Feet)322
3rd+1+3+1+3Expanded Soulmeld Capacity +1, Incarnum Radiance (Aura)332
4th+2+4+1+4Chakra Bind (Hands)442
5th+2+4+1+4Rapid Meldshaping 1/day472
6th+3+5+2+5Conviction483
7th+3+5+2+5Share Incarnum Radiance593
8th+4+6+2+6Incarnum Radiance (Reflection)5103
9th+4+6+3+6Chakra Binds (Arms, Brow, Shoulders)5113
10th+5+7+3+7Incarnum Radiance (Curse)6144
11th+5+7+3+7Rapid Meldshaping 2/day6154
12th+6/+1+8+4+8Stalwart6164
13th+6/+1+8+4+8Incarnum Radiance (Talent)7174
14th+7/+2+9+4+9Chakra Binds (Throat, Waist)7185
15th+7/+2+9+5+9Expanded Soulmeld Capacity +27225
16th+8/+3+10+5+10Chakra Bind (Heart)8245
17th+8/+3+10+5+10Rapid Meldshaping 3/day, Share Incarnum Radiance (no fatigue)8265
18th+9/+4+11+6+11Incarnum Radiance (Gift)8286
19th+9/+4+11+6+11Chakra Bind (Soul)9306
20th+10/+5+12+6+12Perfect Meldshaper, True Incarnation9346

Incarnate class features and abilities work as described in MoI, except for the changes noted below (note particularly the separate section for Incarnum Radiance):

  • Aligned Soulmelds: You cannot shape Soulmelds with an alignment descriptor that does not match your own. For example, if you are a Good Incarnate, you cannot shape Soulmelds with the Balance, Chaotic, Lawful, or Evil descriptors. Soulmelds with the Balance descriptor are aligned to the Incarnate of Balance (True Neutral), and cannot be shaped by any of the other four Incarnate types.
  • Detect Opposition (Sp): At will, you can attempt to detect the presence of creatures whose alignment is opposite your own. This ability works like the Detect Evil spell, except that it detects the specific alignment opposed to your own. For example, a Good Incarnate can detect Evil, while a Chaotic Incarnate can detect Law. Incarnates of Balance do not detect a specific alignment, but rather "Detect Extremists," being able to sense the presence of any of the four extreme alignments (Lawful Good, Chaotic Good, Lawful Evil, or Chaotic Evil).
  • Conviction (Ex): At 6th level, the Incarnate's unswerving dedication to his or her alignment is so strong that it can overcome the effects of certain attacks. If the Incarnate makes a Will saving throw against an attack that has a reduced effect on a successful save, then the Incarnate avoids the effect entirely. This ability can only be used if the Incarnate is wearing Light Armor, Medium Armor, or no armor. A helpless Incarnate does not gain the benefit of the Conviction ability.
  • Stalwart (Ex): At 12th level, the Incarnate's Conviction improves. If the character makes a Fortitude or Will saving throw against an attack that has a reduced effect on a successful save, then he or she instead avoids the effect entirely. As with Conviction, this ability can only be used if the character is wearing Light Armor, Medium Armor, or no armor, and does not grant its benefits to a helpless Incarnate.
Starting Age: Incarnates start at Trained age.
Starting Gold: Incarnate characters start with 4d6 × 10 gp (average 140).

(Incarnum Radiance, being such a complicated and important part of the class, is set out with its own large subsection.)

Incarnum Radiance (Su): As an Incarnate, you fuse incarnum with your very soul. You can tap into your incarnum-fused soul to activate a visible radiant aura of power, granting you an increase in a particular area of prowess. You can use this ability for a number of rounds each day equal to 2 + your Constitution modifier. At each level after 3rd, you can use Incarnum Radiance for 2 additional rounds. Temporary increases to Constitution, such as those gained from Barbarian Rage or spells like Bear's Endurance, do not increase the total number of rounds per day that you can use Incarnum Radiance. The total number of rounds of Incarnum Radiance per day is renewed after resting for 8 hours, although these hours do not need to be consecutive.


You can activate Incarnum Radiance as a free action. Once under its effects, the bonus granted to you depends upon your alignment, as described below. Once Incarnum Radiance is active, you can end it as a free action, though if you end it during the same round you activated it then that round still counts as one toward your total daily limit. If you fall unconscious, your Incarnum Radiance immediately ends.


At 8th level, and again at 13th, and 18th levels, you gain the ability to use another Incarnum Radiance power, also depending upon your alignment. You choose, during any round in which you activate your Incarnum Radiance, which effect to use; you cannot use two or more simultaneously. For all alignments, the Incarnum Radiance power gained at 3rd level is named the Aura, the 8th-level power the Reflection, the 13th-level power the Talent, and the 18th-level power, the Gift.


At 10th level, you learn to use a special resonance effect of your Incarnum Radiance to affect an enemy rather than yourself or your allies. As a standard action, you can target an enemy within 30 feet to Curse. If the target does not share your alignment (for example, if a Good Incarnate targets a creature that is not Good) then the target is allowed a Will saving throw (DC 10 + ½ your Incarnate level + your CON modifier) to negate the effect. If the saving throw fails, the target is affected as described below, and remains affected until the end of its next turn. This uses up one round of your Incarnum Radiance (see above), but you can extend it beyond the target's next turn by using a free action each round in subsequent rounds (using up more rounds of your Incarnum Radiance as you do, and affecting the target exactly the same way without granting it any further saving throws to escape the Curse). If either you or the target falls unconscious, then the Incarnum Curse immediately ends regardless of when the target's next turn is. The effect of your Incarnum Curse depends upon your alignment, just as your Incarnum Radiance does. If you target a creature which shares your alignment (for example, a Lawful Incarnate targeting a Lawful-aligned creature), or if a differently-aligned target succeeds its saving throw, then the Curse has no effect, but the attempt still uses up one of your daily rounds of Incarnum Radiance.


As you gain control over your powers of incarnum, you learn to share the effect of your Incarnum Radiance with nearby allies who share at least some of your morals or ethics. Beginning at 7th level, when you activate your Incarnum Radiance or at the start of your turn if it is already active, you can choose for its benefit to also affect all allies within 30 feet of you (you must make this choice when you activate Incarnum Radiance and at the start of each turn you decide to keep it activated). Only allies who share your alignment can be affected; for example, a Good Incarnate cannot share Incarnum Radiance with allies who are not themselves Good, and an Incarnate of Balance cannot share Incarnum Radiance with allies who are not Neutral on at least one alignment axis. Any ally affected by Incarnum Radiance gains exactly the same benefit you do (including all bonuses and penalties, if applicable), and keeps it until the end of his or her next turn, even if that turn happens to fall in the next round. The benefit cannot last more than 1 round unless the ally is again within 30 feet of you at the start of your next turn, and you keep Incarnum Radiance active, and again choose to share it. If you share your Incarnum Radiance with any allies during its activation time, whether or not you shared it during every round it was activated, then you become Fatigued when you deactivate it (even if you do so by switching from one Incarnum Radiance effect to another, for example, from the Reflection to the Aura) or run out of total rounds per day. This Fatigue lasts 2 rounds per round you shared your Incarnum Radiance.


Beginning at 17th level, sharing your Incarnum Radiance does not Fatigue you afterwards.


Balance:

  • Aura of Stability (3rd): A faint golden mist emanates from you. You gain a +1 bonus to CMB and CMD for all combat maneuvers; this bonus improves by 1 for every 5 Incarnate levels you gain (+2 at 5th level, +3 at 10th, +4 at 15th, etc.).
  • Reflection of Opposition (8th): A dark brown aura surrounds you. Once per round, as a free action, choose one of the four alignments (Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law). You are warded against attacks by creatures of that alignment, mental control, and summoned creatures, exactly as if you were protected by Protection From [Alignment] (where [Alignment] is the alignment you chose that way). Changing the specific alignment choice does not count as changing the Incarnum Radiance effect, for the purpose of determining Fatigue; as long as you keep this Reflection up for any of the four alignments, it counts as one use.
  • Curse of Instability (10th): The target takes a -1 penalty on CMB and CMD, for all combat maneuvers. When you reach 15th level, this penalty instead becomes -2, and at 20th level, -3.
  • Talent for Coordination (13th): A weird glow changing slowly and steadily between green, through blue, to violet, and then back again, emanates from you. You gain a bonus on Acrobatics checks equal to your Incarnate level.
  • Gift of Neutralization (18th): A steady, intense field of gray light shines forth from you. You are immune to all alignment-based effects, and your attacks penetrate alignment-based Damage Reduction as if you were attacking with the correct alignment type to do so. Any alignment-based effect, such as Protection From Evil, Chaos Hammer, Magic Circle Against Good or Dictum, functions as though you had unbeatable Spell Resistance against it, or as though you were not there at all (if the effect does not normally allow SR).
Chaotic:

  • Aura of Action (3rd): A faint green nimbus surrounds your body. You gain a 10-foot increase to your base land speed. This is considered a bonus. This increase improves by 10 feet for every 5 Incarnate levels you gain (+20 at 5th level, +30 at 10th, +40 at 15th, etc.).
  • Reflection of Freedom (8th): A coruscating yellow glow emanates from you. You can move normally regardless of supernatural effects that impede movement, as if you were affected by Freedom of Movement.
  • Curse of Hesitation (10th): The target's speed, in all forms of movement except Flying, is reduced by 10 feet. If the target has a Fly speed, that speed is instead reduced by 20 feet, and its maneuverability rating worsens by one step (to a minimum of Clumsy). When you reach 15th level, these penalties instead become -20 feet (-40 to Fly); finally, at 20th level, the penalties become -30 feet (-60 to Fly). Regardless of the magnitude of the penalties, the target's maneuverability rating is only worsened by one step. A target whose speed in a particular movement mode is reduced to 0 or less cannot use that movement mode at all until the Curse is ended (although it is not considered paralyzed, and is still able to defend itself, even if all of its movement modes are reduced to 0 or less).
  • Talent for Confusion (13th): A flickering glow of all colors, changing rapidly from one to another, erupts from you. You gain a bonus on Bluff checks equal to your Incarnate level, and can make one Bluff check per round as a free action. Any desired effect of this special "free" Bluff check is allowed, as long as the normal amount of time required to accomplish that aim is one minute or less, and using it does not affect your movement or other actions except by its results.
  • Gift of Luck (18th): Brilliant sky-blue light shines forth from your form. Any time you roll a d20 during the activation of this Gift, you may roll twice and take the more favorable result.
Evil:


  • Aura of Hate (3rd): An ash-gray aura surrounds you. You gain a +2 bonus on melee damage rolls; this bonus improves by 2 for every 5 Incarnate levels you gain (+4 at 5th level, +6 at 10th, +8 at 15th, etc.).
  • Reflection of Anger (8th): A pulsing maroon-colored mist wafts from your body. You gain a +2 morale bonus on STR and CON, and a +1 morale bonus on Will saves, but have a -2 morale penalty to AC, just as if you were affected by a Rage spell. Also like the spell, but unlike a Barbarian, you are not Fatigued when this Incarnum-inspired Rage ends (unless you shared it with allies; see above).
  • Curse of Weakness (10th): The target takes a -2 penalty on all weapon or natural-weapon damage rolls. When you reach 15th level, this penalty instead becomes -4, and at 20th level, -6.
  • Talent for Fear (13th): A shuddering aura of dirty bluish-gray envelops your form. You gain a bonus on Intimidate checks equal to your Incarnate level, and can make one Intimidate check per round as a free action. Any desired effect of this special "free" Intimidate check is allowed, as long as the normal amount of time required to accomplish that aim is one minute or less, and using it does not affect your movement or other actions except by its results.
  • Gift of Doom (18th): An aura black as pitch envelops you. While this Gift is activated, all attacks you make have their critical threat range doubled, and this effect stacks with other effects that expand the critical threat range of a weapon or other attack. Furthermore, all critical threats you roll are automatically confirmed.
Good:


  • Aura of Defense (3rd): Your body shines with silvery light. You gain a +1 bonus to AC; this bonus improves by 1 for every 5 Incarnate levels you gain (+2 at 5th level, +3 at 10th, +4 at 15th, etc.).
  • Reflection of Serenity (8th): A steady wintergreen aura surrounds you. Fear, confusion, and other negative emotional states melt away from you, just as if you were under the effect of a Calm Emotions spell, except that you do not lose morale bonuses while this Reflection is active- only penalties. If the Reflection ends before the duration of an emotion effect upon you has expired, then the emotion effect reasserts itself and again affects you as it did before you were affected by the Reflection.
  • Curse of Vulnerability (10th): The target takes a -1 penalty on Armor Class. When you reach 15th level, this penalty instead becomes -2, and at 20th level, -3.
  • Talent for Love (13th): A warm halo of yellowish-orange surrounds you. You gain a bonus on Diplomacy checks equal to your Incarnate level, and can make one Diplomacy check per round as a free action. Any desired effect of this special "free" Diplomacy check is allowed, as long as the normal amount of time required to accomplish that aim is one minute or less, and using it does not affect your movement or other actions except by its results.
  • Gift of Glory (18th): Blinding radiance as if from the noonday sun surrounds you. You become immune to all Death effects, energy drain, and effects that cause negative levels. Negative levels you already have are not removed by this Gift, but they have no effect (and are effectively suppressed) while this Gift is active.
Lawful:

  • Aura of Precision (3rd): You glow with a blood-red corona. You gain a +1 bonus on melee attack rolls; this bonus improves by 1 for every 5 Incarnate levels you gain (+2 at 5th level, +3 at 10th, +4 at 15th, etc.).
  • Reflection of Community (8th): A flickering violet radiance envelops you. You become able to understand, speak, read, and write the language of any intelligent creature you are in contact with, as if you were affected by the Tongues spell.
  • Curse of Inaccuracy (10th): The target takes a -1 penalty on all attack rolls. When you reach 15th level, this penalty instead becomes -2, and at 20th level, -3.
  • Talent for Truth (13th): Faint but steady white light shines forth from you. You gain a bonus on Perception checks equal to your Incarnate level, and can make one Perception check per round as a free action. Any desired effect of this special "free" Perception check is allowed, as long as the normal amount of time required to accomplish that aim is one minute or less, and using it does not affect your movement or other actions except by its results.
  • Gift of Inevitability (18th): A bright orange glow wraps itself around you. You gain DR 10/-, and Resistance 10 to all energy types (Acid, Cold, Electricity, Fire, and Sonic). You are immune to Blindness, Deafness, Disease, Paralyzation, Poison, and Stunning. If you were affected by any effects bestowing one or more of these conditions before the Gift affected you, then they are held in abeyance while the Gift is active, but reassert themselves (as long as their duration has not expired) when it ends.


[h=4]Archetypes[/h] Radiant:
Not content to simply be their alignment, some Incarnates choose to intentionally spread their alignment. Taking the existence of the Incarnum Radiance ability as an example, these Incarnates try to grant the benefits of their chosen causes to others directly, and demonstrate their effectiveness, by gifting other people with the use of their special soulcrafting powers. These Incarnates, called Radiant Incarnates by other meldshapers, attempt to become living exemplars of their Incarnum Radiance gift as well as their chosen alignments. They give up some ability to meldshape in exchange for this specialty, but those to whom they gift their soulmelds and other powers rarely (if ever) fault them for that weakness.

(Side note: this Archetype pulls in the ability I mentioned as being the core feature of the Bluesmith NPC class I made, namely the ability to share soulmelds with others. This ability is completely untested in actual play yet- it "feels" right to me, but I don't actually know yet how well it works in practice.)


Class Features:
All of the following are class features of the Radiant Incarnate.

  • Meldshaping: A Radiant Incarnate has a soulmeld limit one less than normal- thus, a 5th-level Radiant Incarnate can shape at most 3 soulmelds, rather than 4. This ability otherwise functions as and replaces the standard Incarnate Meldshaping class feature.
  • Infused Soulmeld (Su): A Radiant Incarnate exists to spread his or her alignment by providing its benefits directly to creatures that are open to accepting them- empowering allies with knowledge and abilities drawn from appropriate disembodied souls.
    As a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, a Radiant Incarnate may transfer any one soulmeld he or she has shaped onto another willing creature by touch, as long as the creature receiving the soulmeld has the appropriate chakra unoccupied by any soulmeld or magic item and does not have an alignment opposed to any alignment descriptor the chosen soulmeld has (for example, an Armguards of Disruption could not be transferred to an Evil-aligned creature, nor to a creature with another soulmeld already occupying its Arms Chakra). The Radiant must invest 1 point of essentia into the chosen soulmeld as it is transferred, or the soulmeld immediately unshapes; this essentia stays invested in the soulmeld but does not provide either the soulmeld's new wearer nor the Radiant who originally shaped it with any of the standard benefits that soulmeld would normally grant from essentia investment- the essentia is instead being used to keep the soulmeld intact on its new wearer.
    If the creature receiving the soulmeld has an essentia pool of its own, it may invest essentia into the transferred soulmeld as if it had shaped the soulmeld itself; the essentia invested by the Radiant to keep it intact upon its new wearer does not count in any way against the soulmeld's essentia capacity for investment. If the new wearer has the ability to bind a soulmeld to the chakra the transferred soulmeld occupies, then it may Bind the transferred soulmeld to that chakra using the normal rules for reshaping and rebinding soulmelds. The transferred soulmeld does not count against the new wearer's limits on soulmelds shaped, if it has any such limits, but it does count as being a soulmeld occupying the appropriate chakra- so a creature gifted with an Armguards of Disruption could not, for example, spend 15 minutes shaping a new Bluesteel Bracers on itself unless it had the Double Chakra (Arms) feat. If the new wearer becomes unconscious or dead for any reason, the transferred soulmeld immediately unshapes, and the essentia the Radiant invested into it to keep it intact is divested as though the Radiant had done it himself or herself (see below).
    The Radiant Incarnate is not able to invest essentia into the soulmeld, after it is transferred; for all intents and purposes, the soulmeld is considered unshaped from the perspective of the Radiant as soon as the transfer is completed. The Radiant may, in fact, shape a new soulmeld to replace the one just transferred; this uses the normal rules for shaping individual soulmelds. The only thing the Radiant must do while the transferred soulmeld remains shaped is keep the 1 point of essentia invested in it; as soon as the Radiant divests that essentia from the transferred soulmeld for any reason, the soulmeld immediately unshapes.
    This ability replaces Detect Opposition.
  • Remote Binding (Su): Beginning at 5th level, a Radiant Incarnate has the ability to specifically bind a soulmeld transferred using the Infused Soulmeld ability to the appropriate chakra of its new wearer, during the transfer. This does not harm the creature to whom the soulmeld is transferred, and grants that creature the full benefits of the appropriate Chakra Bind for the transferred soulmeld as long as the soulmeld remains shaped. Because the soulmeld is being bound to the other creature's chakra by a third party, it does not naturally stay bound the way a normal soulmeld would; the Radiant must carefully keep watch upon the soulmeld to be sure it does not spontaneously unbind itself, and can therefore only bind one transferred soulmeld to its new wearer's chakra this way at any given time.
    If the Radiant wishes, he or she can allow the transferred soulmeld to unbind (without actually unshaping it or divesting the essentia being used to keep it intact upon the new wearer), and free up this "Remote Binding slot" for another soulmeld. Soulmelds which have already been transferred to other creatures cannot be bound to their new wearers' chakras this way; the binding must be done during the actual transfer itself- but if the Radiant is not currently maintaining a Remote-Bound soulmeld, then he or she is free to bind a new soulmeld that he or she transfers to its new wearer's chakra during that transfer process.
    At 11th level, and then again at 17th level, the Radiant increases the number of Remote Binds he or she can maintain at a time by one. Thus, at 20th level, the Radiant can maintain three Remote-Bound soulmelds simultaneously.
    This ability replaces Rapid Meldshaping.

The next Archetype requires some explanation: my own game setting features the existence of a strange cult called the Cult of Void, which worships an idea that alignments are by their nature restrictive and constrain a spirit from the chance to obtain "true Transcendence" (whatever you might take that to mean). They get genuine Divine magic, but the actual Entity they receive their power from is unknown to anybody (including, though you would be wise not to mention this around actual Cult members, the Cult itself). The existence of this "anti-alignment" Cult gave me the idea for the following Archetype, which is a version of that Cult's ideals applied to the Incarnate. Other GMs who like this idea but don't have a Cult of Void in their own setting should change the background info for this Archetype to match their own settings, as appropriate.

Void:
Rather than espouse and display a unique alignment perspective, holding it up as superior to all others, a few who study the powers of Incarnum take a cue from the religion which holds that no one alignment is superior to or more correct than any other (the cult of Void)- and try to create a new perspective from which to study meldshaping. Seeking to truly go Beyond the simple and base conflicts engendered by alignment beliefs, and attain a truly Transcendent state that they are certain lies behind and beyond them, these unique Incarnates truly are a breed apart from the rest. Still quite rare, most of them associate directly with the actual Cult of Void itself, but a few have begun to strike out on their own. Most who are aware of them call them Incarnates of Void, as a result of their association with the cult.


Class Features:
All of the following are class features of the Incarnate of Void.


  • Alignment: An Incarnate of Void can technically be of any alignment, though most are True Neutral simply because that happens to be the closest match to their "outside perspective" regarding the whole notion of alignment in the first place.
  • Aligned Soulmelds: Unlike standard Incarnates, Incarnates of Void are unrestricted in their selection of soulmelds- as long as those soulmelds are on the Incarnate list. They can shape soulmelds with any alignment descriptor or descriptors that they like, and many deliberately explore soulmeld combinations containing opposed alignment descriptors, such as Armguards of Disruption paired with Bloodwar Gauntlets.
  • Aura of Distortion (Su): An Incarnate of Void produces a sort of anti-Aura, rather than the sort of alignment aura produced by other Incarnates. Regardless of what sort of effect is being used, the character shows up as an empty area in space (as if the effect were being blocked or absorbed) to any effect which detects alignment or alignment tendencies.
    More interestingly, even creatures which are not using any sort of spell, power, or ability that detects alignment can sense something "off" about the character just from regular interactions with him or her. The Incarnate of Void has a penalty on Diplomacy checks and Handle Animal checks equal to -1, plus -1 per 5 levels of Incarnate he or she has; however, this same penalty applies to the Sense Motive modifier of any creature attempting to use that skill to discern something about the Incarnate of Void. Also, the character gains a bonus on Intimidate checks equal to +1, plus another +1 per 5 levels of Incarnate.
    This ability replaces Aura and Detect Opposition.
  • Incarnum Radiance (Su): An Incarnate of Void still produces Incarnum Radiance, but has a unique set of abilities that do not match those of any other type of Incarnate (summarized below). The Incarnate of Void can Share his or her Incarnum Radiance with all allies, regardless of alignment. It is also worth noting that Incarnates of Void do not produce "radiance" in the normal sense, when they use this power; that is, it does not manifest as a clear and obvious aura of light the way the Incarnum Radiance of other Incarnates does. Instead, an Incarnate of Void produces a strange sort of "ripple" in the air, like a heat shimmer, when using any effect of his or her Incarnum Radiance (allies, likewise, are covered with this colorless aura when the Incarnate is Sharing with them).
    • Aura of Blankness (3rd): You gain a +1 bonus on Will saving throws; this bonus improves by 1 for every 5 Incarnate levels you gain (+2 at 5th level, +3 at 10th, +4 at 15th, etc.).
    • Reflection of Gravity (8th): You become able to tread on air as if on solid ground, just like the effect of the Air Walk spell. Unlike the spell, if you stop using this Reflection (or run out of Incarnum Radiance rounds to use) while in midair, you fall and take damage normally.
    • Curse of Overstimulation (10th): The target takes a -1 penalty on all Will saving throws. When you reach 15th level, this penalty instead becomes -2, and at 20th level, -3.
    • Talent for Stillness (13th): You gain a bonus on Stealth checks equal to your Incarnate level, and can make one Stealth check per round as a free action. Any desired effect of this special "free" Stealth check is allowed, as long as the normal amount of time required to accomplish that aim is one minute or less, and using it does not affect your movement or other actions except by its results.
    • Gift of Space (18th): You do not provoke attacks of opportunity with any action you take, regardless of what it is. You are allowed to take any number of attacks of opportunity during each round this Gift is active, up to one such attack per opportunity. You are immune to Confusion, Entangling, Grapple, Nausea, Pinning, Sickening, Staggering, and Stunning. If you were affected by any effects bestowing one or more of these conditions before the Gift affected you, then they are held in abeyance while the Gift is active, but reassert themselves (as long as their duration has not expired) when it ends.
  • Nullify Soulmeld (Su): Beginning at 6th level, when an Incarnate of Void shapes his or her soulmelds, he or she can choose to deliberately shape one less soulmeld than his or her normal maximum capacity. If he or she does, then this class feature becomes an Incarnum receptacle, which the Incarnate of Void can invest essentia into as if it were an Incarnum feat.
    Investing essentia into this class feature allows the Incarnate of Void to target one opponent within 25 feet + 5 feet per point of invested essentia with a blast of "anti-Incarnum" (souls and soul energy which actively prevent other souls from sticking together or working as a unit) as a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity. At 6th level, this attack works as Suppress Magic on one of the target's soulmelds or magic items; at 12th, the Incarnate can either use the Suppress Magic option as before or instead use Unshape Soulmeld on one of the target's soulmelds. If the character uses the Unshape Soulmeld option, and the target's soulmeld is in fact destroyed, then the essentia investment in this class feature is automatically and immediately reduced by 1 as soon as the soulmeld unshapes. Both the Suppress Magic and Unshape Soulmeld options use the Incarnate's class level as the caster level, for the purpose of resolving the effect.
    This ability replaces Conviction and Stalwart.
  • Transcendant Transformation (Su): At 20th level, the Incarnate of Void transforms into an Outsider, but does not gain any alignment subtype (even if his or her alignment is not True Neutral). Instead, the character becomes immune to Confusion and Insanity effects.
    This ability replaces True Incarnation.
 
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