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Incarnum in Pathfinder
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<blockquote data-quote="paradox42" data-source="post: 6133521" data-attributes="member: 29746"><p>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 <em>have</em> 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.</p><p></p><p>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 <em>access</em> to two new soulmelds without granting you the <em>increased soulmeld cap</em> that would allow you to shape them in addition to your other melds. By contrast, the feat from Magic of Incarnum, Shape Soulmeld, actually <em>does</em> 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).</p><p></p><p>The feat text first:</p><p></p><p><strong>Expanded Meldshaping</strong></p><p><strong></strong>You know how to shape soulmelds that other members of your class do not.</p><p><strong>Prerequisites:</strong> Meldshaper level 1, 1 rank in Knowledge (Arcana), 1 rank in Spellcraft.</p><p><strong>Benefit:</strong> 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.</p><p><strong>Normal:</strong> You cannot shape soulmelds that are not on your class's list of soulmelds.</p><p><strong>Special:</strong> 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.</p><p></p><p>Now the rules.</p><p></p><p><strong>Researching Incarnum</strong> </p><p></p><p>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).</p><p></p><p>Researching a new soulmeld requires first and foremost <em>designing</em> 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.</p><p></p><p>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, <em>every</em> soulmeld which is on the Totemist class list must have a Totem Chakra Bind power, and <em>every</em> soulmeld which is on the Foundationist class list must have a Pattern Chakra Bind power.</p><p></p><p>Second, although soulmelds have no "levels" as such, one <em>can</em> 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.</p><p></p><p>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 <em>Haste</em> effect when bound to the Feet is probably a bad idea, because <em>Haste</em> 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 <em>other</em> chakras the soulmeld is associated with.</p><p></p><p>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, <em>Invisibility</em> 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- <em>Vanish</em> (APG 253). Therefore, that soulmeld idea granting <em>Haste</em> 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.</p><p></p><p>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 <em>Message</em>). 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).</p><p></p><p>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).</p><p></p><p>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 <em>not</em> 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 <em>both</em> Chakras simultaneously- research for each proposed Chakra upgrade must be done separately.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="paradox42, post: 6133521, member: 29746"] 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 [I]have[/I] 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 [I]access[/I] to two new soulmelds without granting you the [I]increased soulmeld cap[/I] that would allow you to shape them in addition to your other melds. By contrast, the feat from Magic of Incarnum, Shape Soulmeld, actually [I]does[/I] 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: [B]Expanded Meldshaping [/B]You know how to shape soulmelds that other members of your class do not. [B]Prerequisites:[/B] Meldshaper level 1, 1 rank in Knowledge (Arcana), 1 rank in Spellcraft. [B]Benefit:[/B] 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. [B]Normal:[/B] You cannot shape soulmelds that are not on your class's list of soulmelds. [B]Special:[/B] 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. [B]Researching Incarnum[/B] 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 [I]designing[/I] 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, [I]every[/I] soulmeld which is on the Totemist class list must have a Totem Chakra Bind power, and [I]every[/I] soulmeld which is on the Foundationist class list must have a Pattern Chakra Bind power. Second, although soulmelds have no "levels" as such, one [I]can[/I] 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 [I]Haste[/I] effect when bound to the Feet is probably a bad idea, because [I]Haste[/I] 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 [I]other[/I] 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, [I]Invisibility[/I] 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- [I]Vanish[/I] (APG 253). Therefore, that soulmeld idea granting [I]Haste[/I] 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 [I]Message[/I]). 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 [I]not[/I] 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 [I]both[/I] 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. [/QUOTE]
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