I was looking over Magic of Incarnum, which is full of bad game mechanics with a cool idea inside, and I was wondering how to handle it in 4e. This is the beginning of my efforts to do that.
In this conversion, incarnum energy is depicted a little differently than the 3e version; incarnum abilities create very transient displays. The visual effect is of flashing lights, sudden crackles and booms, etc.
The chakra mechanic is going to be central to all the incarnum classes; dailies will expend large amounts of chakra for large effects.
Soulborn
You have a rare power: you can feel the flow of incarnum in your very blood and bones. With hard training and mental discipline, you have learned to shape this energy into a formidable weapon.
Role: Defender. Your supernatural power flows through you, gracefully redirecting or dissolving the attacks of enemies.
Power Source: Incarnum. You shape the life-energy that moves through the world into evanescent tools, or simply run it through your body to create wondrous effects.
Key abilities: Constitution, Dexterity, Charisma
Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide, chainmail, light shields
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, Miltary melee, Simple ranged
Bonus to Defense: +2 Reflex
HP at First Level: 15 + Con score
HP per each level gained: 6
Healing Surges per day: 8 + Con modifier
Trained skills: From the class skill list below, chose 3 trained skills at 1st level.
Class Skills: Athletics, Endurance, Heal, History, Insight, Religion
Class Features:
Soul Bastion: Your inherent incarnum projects a field of protective energy. You get +1 AC, or +3 if any of your chakras are open.
Incarnum Charge: Through inborn talent and dedicated training, you have learned to capture the fleeting energy that flows through all living things. You can release this energy to enhance your attacks. You capture this energy in the power centers of your body – points that are called chakras. The soulborn has access to five chakras: crown, throat, heart, hands, and feet. A charged, or open, chakra can be released to add effects to certain powers.
Inner Sanctum Chakra: One of your chakras is the seat of your soul. Since your soul is a powerful nexus of spiritual energy, you gain certain benefits, depending on where it is located. Choose one of these options:
Crown Soul: You have a heightened awareness, giving you a +3 bonus to opportunity attacks.
Throat Soul: You have a powerful presence. When you hit with an opportunity attack, you gain combat advantage against the target until the end of your next turn.
Heart Soul: You have a resilient heart. Once per round, when you hit with an opportunity attack, you gain 2 temporary HP. Increase to 4 at 11th level and 6 at 21st level.
Soulborn Defense: Your combat training gives you access to the following powers: Flash Step and Soul Mark. These allow you to maintain combat superiority by remaining close to your opponents and punishing them for attacking your allies.
Flash Step — Soulborn Feature
You seem to flicker from one place to another, your form illuminated by flashes of blue light.
At-Will • Incarnum
Free Action — Personal
Trigger: An adjacent enemy marked by you shifts
Effect: You shift 1 square.
Special: You can use this power only once per turn. You can release 1 chakra to shift an additional square.
Soul Mark — Soulborn Feature
You shape an icon of blue light which floats above an enemy's head, linking its soul to yours. Different soulborn use different icons, but the commonest is a spinning burst of rays just in front of the forehead.
At-Will • Incarnum
Free Action — Close burst 5
Target: One creature in burst
Effect: You mark the target. The target remains marked until the end of the encounter or you use Soul Mark on a different target. A creature can be subject to only one mark at a time. A new mark supersedes a mark that was already in place. While a target is marked, it takes a –2 penalty to attack rolls for any attack that doesn't include you as a target, and you open a chakra.
Powers:
At-Will:
Sky Sword — Soulborn Attack 1
Your weapon carries you along in a gust of azure wind, to position you to strike.
At-Will • Incarnum, Weapon
Standard Action — Close burst 2
Target: 1 enemy in burst
Special: You can shift 1 square before the attack.
Attack: Con vs. AC
Hit: 1W + Con modifier damage. (2W at 21st)
Startling Fan — Soulborn Attack 1
Your weapon multiplies into many sparkling duplicates of itself, confusing your foe.
At-Will • Incarnum, Weapon
Standard Action — Melee weapon
Target: 1 enemy
Attack: Con vs. AC
Hit: 1W + Con modifier damage. (2W at 21st)
Effect: An ally adjacent to the target shifts 1 square.
Cold Star — Soulborn Attack 1
A mote of cold light forms at the tip of your blade.
At-Will • Incarnum, Weapon
Standard Action — Melee weapon
Target: 1 enemy
Attack: Con vs. AC
Hit: 1W + Con modifier damage, and the target receives your Soul Mark. (2W at 21st)
Crown Soul: Until the end of your next turn, if the target moves away from you, you open a chakra.
Enfolding Crescent — Soulborn Attack 1
You describe a glowing line in the air and trap your enemy within.
At-Will • Incarnum, Weapon
Standard Action — Melee weapon
Target: 1 enemy
Attack: Con vs. AC
Hit: 1W + Con modifier damage, and the target is grabbed. (2W at 21st)
Throat Soul: You can release a chakra to maintain the grab, instead of using a minor action.
Executioner's Mask — Soulborn Attack 1
A white mask of light covers your face as you position to make your attack.
At-Will • Incarnum, Weapon
Standard Action — Melee weapon
Target: 1 enemy
Attack: Con vs. AC
Hit: 1W + Con modifier damage, and the target has -2 AC until the end of your next turn. (2W at 21st)
Heart Soul: Until the end of your next turn, if the target is marked and makes an attack that does not include you, you gain 2 temporary HP.
In this conversion, incarnum energy is depicted a little differently than the 3e version; incarnum abilities create very transient displays. The visual effect is of flashing lights, sudden crackles and booms, etc.
The chakra mechanic is going to be central to all the incarnum classes; dailies will expend large amounts of chakra for large effects.
Soulborn
You have a rare power: you can feel the flow of incarnum in your very blood and bones. With hard training and mental discipline, you have learned to shape this energy into a formidable weapon.
Role: Defender. Your supernatural power flows through you, gracefully redirecting or dissolving the attacks of enemies.
Power Source: Incarnum. You shape the life-energy that moves through the world into evanescent tools, or simply run it through your body to create wondrous effects.
Key abilities: Constitution, Dexterity, Charisma
Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide, chainmail, light shields
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, Miltary melee, Simple ranged
Bonus to Defense: +2 Reflex
HP at First Level: 15 + Con score
HP per each level gained: 6
Healing Surges per day: 8 + Con modifier
Trained skills: From the class skill list below, chose 3 trained skills at 1st level.
Class Skills: Athletics, Endurance, Heal, History, Insight, Religion
Class Features:
Soul Bastion: Your inherent incarnum projects a field of protective energy. You get +1 AC, or +3 if any of your chakras are open.
Incarnum Charge: Through inborn talent and dedicated training, you have learned to capture the fleeting energy that flows through all living things. You can release this energy to enhance your attacks. You capture this energy in the power centers of your body – points that are called chakras. The soulborn has access to five chakras: crown, throat, heart, hands, and feet. A charged, or open, chakra can be released to add effects to certain powers.
Inner Sanctum Chakra: One of your chakras is the seat of your soul. Since your soul is a powerful nexus of spiritual energy, you gain certain benefits, depending on where it is located. Choose one of these options:
Crown Soul: You have a heightened awareness, giving you a +3 bonus to opportunity attacks.
Throat Soul: You have a powerful presence. When you hit with an opportunity attack, you gain combat advantage against the target until the end of your next turn.
Heart Soul: You have a resilient heart. Once per round, when you hit with an opportunity attack, you gain 2 temporary HP. Increase to 4 at 11th level and 6 at 21st level.
Soulborn Defense: Your combat training gives you access to the following powers: Flash Step and Soul Mark. These allow you to maintain combat superiority by remaining close to your opponents and punishing them for attacking your allies.
Flash Step — Soulborn Feature
You seem to flicker from one place to another, your form illuminated by flashes of blue light.
At-Will • Incarnum
Free Action — Personal
Trigger: An adjacent enemy marked by you shifts
Effect: You shift 1 square.
Special: You can use this power only once per turn. You can release 1 chakra to shift an additional square.
Soul Mark — Soulborn Feature
You shape an icon of blue light which floats above an enemy's head, linking its soul to yours. Different soulborn use different icons, but the commonest is a spinning burst of rays just in front of the forehead.
At-Will • Incarnum
Free Action — Close burst 5
Target: One creature in burst
Effect: You mark the target. The target remains marked until the end of the encounter or you use Soul Mark on a different target. A creature can be subject to only one mark at a time. A new mark supersedes a mark that was already in place. While a target is marked, it takes a –2 penalty to attack rolls for any attack that doesn't include you as a target, and you open a chakra.
Powers:
At-Will:
Sky Sword — Soulborn Attack 1
Your weapon carries you along in a gust of azure wind, to position you to strike.
At-Will • Incarnum, Weapon
Standard Action — Close burst 2
Target: 1 enemy in burst
Special: You can shift 1 square before the attack.
Attack: Con vs. AC
Hit: 1W + Con modifier damage. (2W at 21st)
Startling Fan — Soulborn Attack 1
Your weapon multiplies into many sparkling duplicates of itself, confusing your foe.
At-Will • Incarnum, Weapon
Standard Action — Melee weapon
Target: 1 enemy
Attack: Con vs. AC
Hit: 1W + Con modifier damage. (2W at 21st)
Effect: An ally adjacent to the target shifts 1 square.
Cold Star — Soulborn Attack 1
A mote of cold light forms at the tip of your blade.
At-Will • Incarnum, Weapon
Standard Action — Melee weapon
Target: 1 enemy
Attack: Con vs. AC
Hit: 1W + Con modifier damage, and the target receives your Soul Mark. (2W at 21st)
Crown Soul: Until the end of your next turn, if the target moves away from you, you open a chakra.
Enfolding Crescent — Soulborn Attack 1
You describe a glowing line in the air and trap your enemy within.
At-Will • Incarnum, Weapon
Standard Action — Melee weapon
Target: 1 enemy
Attack: Con vs. AC
Hit: 1W + Con modifier damage, and the target is grabbed. (2W at 21st)
Throat Soul: You can release a chakra to maintain the grab, instead of using a minor action.
Executioner's Mask — Soulborn Attack 1
A white mask of light covers your face as you position to make your attack.
At-Will • Incarnum, Weapon
Standard Action — Melee weapon
Target: 1 enemy
Attack: Con vs. AC
Hit: 1W + Con modifier damage, and the target has -2 AC until the end of your next turn. (2W at 21st)
Heart Soul: Until the end of your next turn, if the target is marked and makes an attack that does not include you, you gain 2 temporary HP.
