5e magic of Incarnum (Beta)

[Goober4473]

I'm back to working on my Magic of Incarnum update, which I plan to put up on the DMs Guild when it's done. I'm planning to add races and monsters, and perhaps some spells, but for now, the Incarnate class is fully implemented, though not all of the soulmelds are in. The Incandescent subclass does have a full set though, so that at least is fully playable.

Here's a link to the current version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwir5V4Ifx5dRlJMWVpfbzJYMlk/view?usp=sharing I'll be updating it as I go.

Here are some design notes, so everyone can be on the same page:

• I've merged all of the classes into one, inspired by the Mystic playtest. The original classes, in 3.5, had very few class features besides the soulmelds, so I felt this was a much cleaner way to handle it. Like mystics (and clerics), you select your subclass (Incarnation) at level 1, and it determines the list of soulmelds you can choose from.
• The breakdown of soulmelds for each subclass was chosen to give each of them 20 options; enough to have a wide variety, but not so many that it's overwhelming or overpowered.
• Following the 5e design standard of large choices, rather than small fiddley numbers, I've turned essentia into a binary choice: a soulmeld has essentia invested in it or it doesn't.
• I initially wanted to let essentia be moved around freely as a bonus action, but it was too restrictive to the design of soulmelds, since they could then only then have passive effects based on essentia and never per short rest abilities. My solution was to allow incarnates to invest essentia as a bonus action, so they can choose which soulmeld to invest in as they need them, but the essentia can't then be moved until they take a short rest.

I'd love any feedback, though I'm pretty set on the core mechanics. My current main concerns are:

• Overall balance of the class compared to others. It most closely resembles the warlock, with essentia and normal chakras replacing spell slots, greater chakras replacing mystic arcanum, and the base soulmeld effects replacing invocations. Warlocks tend to rely on eldritch blast, however, which the incarnate doesn't have much of an analogue to.
• 1st level incarnation ability balance. Is Incarnum Radiance too powerful? Is Totem Weapons up to par?
• General soulmeld balance. Is any soulmeld useless or broken?

 

[Blue]

Okay, I'll give a stream of consciousness as I read through, and then try to pull everything together in the end. I will not concerns as I go along, but that doesn't mean they are justified until I see how it hangs together.

d8 HD, medium armor and shields. Tougher then any caster but the cleric.

1st level seems to allow you to have 3 soulmelds up. Is this too easy to cherrypick when multiclassing? Must keep an eye on this when we get to them.

Hmm, can pick from all 20 soulmelds each long rest. Better "spell" selection then a wizard, definitely better than any of the spells known classes.

...Bunch of features that I need to se the soulmelds in order to understand their potency...

Ah, incarnations. Oh wait, they also give additional features at 1st level? Not liking this at all. 3rd level seems to be a breakpoint for things like this for paladins and such. Clerics have 1st level and they are the most cherry dipped.

HOLY. Incarnum Radiance at 1st level gives up to +5 to all saves, +5 to all attacks and damage, +20' movement. It's +Wis so it wont' be that high at character level 1, but it will still be high. For 1 minute (usually a combat) per short rest. No, no, no, no. Clerics and druids will love dipping this class. It will out-fight all melee classes at 1st. And god forbid you somehow get the Shillelagh spell through some means like the Magical Adept feat.

What, Share Radiance now gives that to all allies up to 30'? Or 120' with "Green Nimbus". Oh my. Huge buffs to allies, no concentration or action needed.

Okay, Incarnum Radiance needs to be beaten with a nerf bat then moved back to 3rd level. And Share Radiance ... maybe give it to an ally but ti takes concentration, or lend it to an ally and you don't have it. 5e doesn't hand out big buffs like that to everyone for free, it's not part of how any of the classes or spells are designed. Paladin auras, which give much less, are defensive, and start at only 10', are about the best you can expect.

On to Necrocarnate. Talents of the Dead is nifty. A skill with expertise you can switch around.

Soulborn - okay, heavy armor and martial weapons as a class feature, nto proficiency, at 1st. This is a big part of why cleric domains are cherrypicked. Not that it's overly powerful when just advancing one class, but at 1st it doesn't play nicely with multiclassing. Perhaps some note that this should be considered a proficiency so the normal multiclassing rules ignore it.

Totemist. Totem Weapons - I like this. Builds on other work (equipment list) ina way you can be flexible. Want a long tentacle, use a whip, etc.

I think it could a bit of clarification: does this replace your normal hand or is it additional? Can you manifest two handed weapons? Can you throw them?

5e seems to have if you replace the attack ability you replace the damage ability as well, so I'd recommend wisdom for damage as well.

On to soulmelds:

Acrobat Boots. Good. Not sure how many you can effect if you invest essentia and your root chakra is open, it' sjust "not limited to one", but then the sacral chakra is any number.

I like the growth of powers with chakra openings, though you may be a bit late in getting levitate & fly compared to others. (Note from later - I see this isn't the only way to get flight, so these are toppers not the main power. All good.)

Oh, throat is interesting. Not overpowered, but flexible. Watching this with excitement in further soulmelds.

I'm not going to mention every soulmeld. For example: perfectly happy with Adamant Pauldrons, no comments to make.

Airstep Sandals - flying at level 1 is usually considered a gamebreaker. Lots of negative feedback about flying races being overpowered. Also not assumed to be available until about 5th. No hover can mix interestingly with Acrobat Boots for levitation.

Good level appropriate spell progression. Though with a cast every short rest this is about 1/2 to 1/3 of all warlock casting right here in terms of slots, but not having a lot of essentia even at 20th that's not bad.

Ankheg Breastplate - all of the classes that give Unarmed Defense use a secondary ability (CON for barbs and WIS for Monks). A totemist would have Wis to Attack, Damage and AC in addition to normal WIS uses - it's making one ability too good.

Essentia - because this is at-will, I'm comparing it to cantrips. Eldritch Blast is the only cantrip that targets multiple, and that is limited in number and the damage doesn't scale. I'd either reduce the usage (2/short rest?) or drastically cut it down.

On the other hand, I'm beef up Throat, it's lacking compared to some others. It's totemist, maybe add acid damage to Totem Weapons?

Apparition Ribbon - I liked it until I realized that there was no limit on using th essentia ability and if you spam it you can become immune to a huge host of conditions and eventually get resistance to B/P/S. I'd suggest some limit on it so you don't keep spamming it.

Arcane Focus - more as fluff than power, no class can change cantrips. You are stuck with them, maybe adding more but never swapping them out. Having "I get whatever cantri I want for this situation" makes you a whole quantum better at cantrips then anyone else. But for the most part that's still not too powerful. I do worry about Eldritch Blast, which in some ways should be a warlock class feature but isn't.

Same note before about the essentia part being equal to a considerable fraction of warlock casting, but in this case it's more flexible on spell and from a better list.

How does Third Eye where you can cast identify at-will interact with the Essentia ability to change out that spell for another? I'm assuming they don't interact - essential lets you pick another spell, Third Eye gives you detect & identify.

Really like Armguards.

Okay, need to run to get to a game so I'll stop here.

SUMMATION:
I like a lot of what you have, it's flavorful.

I'm a bit worried that when you put it together it's too much - bunch of soulmelds plus a number with essentia invested, all getting buffed from opening chakras, with great HD/armor and Incarnation power.

On top of that, flexibility is VERY high. Switch between all 20 available soulmelds every day, only invest essentia when you need to, many of the soulmelds have a lot of flexibility, like Arcane Focus is ANY spell of the appropriate level.

I have concerns about cherry-picking via multiclassing - the PHB classes (except you, cleric) are careful about this and it sets the bar high for new classes.

One thing I haven't mentioned, but 5e uses concentration to keep from too many buffs. I think that a lot of the soulmeld abilities should have this. Like maybe Airstep Sandals requires concentration to use, and that requirement goes away with Throat.

And the Incandescent features need a rework, 5e just doesn't support that level of buffing for yourself, much less partywide.

 

[Goober4473]

HOLY. Incarnum Radiance at 1st level gives up to +5 to all saves, +5 to all attacks and damage, +20' movement. It's +Wis so it wont' be that high at character level 1, but it will still be high. For 1 minute (usually a combat) per short rest. No, no, no, no. Clerics and druids will love dipping this class. It will out-fight all melee classes at 1st. And god forbid you somehow get the Shillelagh spell through some means like the Magical Adept feat.

What, Share Radiance now gives that to all allies up to 30'? Or 120' with "Green Nimbus". Oh my. Huge buffs to allies, no concentration or action needed.

Okay, Incarnum Radiance needs to be beaten with a nerf bat then moved back to 3rd level. And Share Radiance ... maybe give it to an ally but ti takes concentration, or lend it to an ally and you don't have it. 5e doesn't hand out big buffs like that to everyone for free, it's not part of how any of the classes or spells are designed. Paladin auras, which give much less, are defensive, and start at only 10', are about the best you can expect.

To be fair, it does give only ONE of the chosen benefits. But it is quite a bit more versatile than a paladin aura. Definitely looking into nerfing this.

Soulborn - okay, heavy armor and martial weapons as a class feature, nto proficiency, at 1st. This is a big part of why cleric domains are cherrypicked. Not that it's overly powerful when just advancing one class, but at 1st it doesn't play nicely with multiclassing. Perhaps some note that this should be considered a proficiency so the normal multiclassing rules ignore it.

So long as they're trading an equally useful class feature for it, I don't think it's a big problem. You can multiclass and get heavy armor, but you could also have Incarnum Radiance or a switchable expertise skill.

Totemist. Totem Weapons - I like this. Builds on other work (equipment list) ina way you can be flexible. Want a long tentacle, use a whip, etc.

I think it could a bit of clarification: does this replace your normal hand or is it additional? Can you manifest two handed weapons? Can you throw them?

Good call on the clarifications. I'll need to specify at least that they can't be thrown, and I'll add a note that they occupy your hands the same way the given weapon would. You might for instance manifest a bite attack as a greatsword, but your hands would become paws or otherwise occupied in the meantime.

5e seems to have if you replace the attack ability you replace the damage ability as well, so I'd recommend wisdom for damage as well.

That's the intent, since it's "for the attack" rather than "for the attack roll", but I'll clarify that it applies to damage as well.

Acrobat Boots. Good. Not sure how many you can effect if you invest essentia and your root chakra is open, it' sjust "not limited to one", but then the sacral chakra is any number.

I'll clarify that it's as normal for the spell at Root level.

I like the growth of powers with chakra openings, though you may be a bit late in getting levitate & fly compared to others. (Note from later - I see this isn't the only way to get flight, so these are toppers not the main power. All good.)

It trades at-will usage in for a higher level requirement. Fly then is in addition to at-will feather fall and levitate, but gained at level 9. Do you think this is fair? Should I maybe dial it back one step, granting levitate at 5, then fly at 7, and something else at 9?

Airstep Sandals - flying at level 1 is usually considered a gamebreaker. Lots of negative feedback about flying races being overpowered. Also not assumed to be available until about 5th. No hover can mix interestingly with Acrobat Boots for levitation.

You do fall at the end of your turn, so it's pretty limited. I do like the combo of those two melds, using wither levitate or feather fall to avoid falling damage (or falling at all). You can only pull the levitate trick at level 7+, so that should be fine as well.

Good level appropriate spell progression. Though with a cast every short rest this is about 1/2 to 1/3 of all warlock casting right here in terms of slots, but not having a lot of essentia even at 20th that's not bad.

They should have essentia equal to a warlock's normal spell slots, and when they just cast a spell, it's at best the same level as an equal level warlock (or other full caster). Except at level 1, where they have no essentia. Instead, they get their soulmelds, i.e. invocation analogue, at level 1.

Ankheg Breastplate - all of the classes that give Unarmed Defense use a secondary ability (CON for barbs and WIS for Monks). A totemist would have Wis to Attack, Damage and AC in addition to normal WIS uses - it's making one ability too good.

That's a good point. Perhaps it should be Con like a barbarian.

Essentia - because this is at-will, I'm comparing it to cantrips. Eldritch Blast is the only cantrip that targets multiple, and that is limited in number and the damage doesn't scale. I'd either reduce the usage (2/short rest?) or drastically cut it down.

On the other hand, I'm beef up Throat, it's lacking compared to some others. It's totemist, maybe add acid damage to Totem Weapons?

The essentia ability is intended to be more of a 1st level spell than just a cantrip; only it gives you an at-will ability. How would you feel about a level 1 spell that gives you that attack for say, 8 hours in the vein of mage armor? Still maybe a little too much damage?

Apparition Ribbon - I liked it until I realized that there was no limit on using th essentia ability and if you spam it you can become immune to a huge host of conditions and eventually get resistance to B/P/S. I'd suggest some limit on it so you don't keep spamming it.

It is indeed supposed to be a 1/short rest power. Looks like I missed adding that limit. Will correct.

Arcane Focus - more as fluff than power, no class can change cantrips. You are stuck with them, maybe adding more but never swapping them out. Having "I get whatever cantri I want for this situation" makes you a whole quantum better at cantrips then anyone else. But for the most part that's still not too powerful. I do worry about Eldritch Blast, which in some ways should be a warlock class feature but isn't.

Eldritch blast is pretty on-par with things like firebolt until you get Agonizing Blast, which is of course a warlock class feature. The soulmeld only allows for wizard cantrips though, so no problem either way.

Same note before about the essentia part being equal to a considerable fraction of warlock casting, but in this case it's more flexible on spell and from a better list.

It is, but it's also a level lower. For instance, at Root, which is level 3, you can cast a 1st level spell, while at Sacral, which is level 5, you can cast a 2nd level spell. More versatility for less power is the name of the game for Incarnates, and especially Necrocarnates. Is the variety still too much, do you think?

How does Third Eye where you can cast identify at-will interact with the Essentia ability to change out that spell for another? I'm assuming they don't interact - essential lets you pick another spell, Third Eye gives you detect & identify.

I might need to clarify the wording a bit, but the intent is that you can always cast detect magic or identify, but you can trade that to cast one of the spells you chose from chakras being open. So if for instance you had Sacral open, you could pick scorching ray, then cast it or you could still cast detect magic or identify instead. Essentially, you get one spell slots to cast one of the given spells, whether its detect magic, identify, or your selected spell.

SUMMATION:
I like a lot of what you have, it's flavorful.

Thanks! Your feedback is very helpful.

I'm a bit worried that when you put it together it's too much - bunch of soulmelds plus a number with essentia invested, all getting buffed from opening chakras, with great HD/armor and Incarnation power.

On top of that, flexibility is VERY high. Switch between all 20 available soulmelds every day, only invest essentia when you need to, many of the soulmelds have a lot of flexibility, like Arcane Focus is ANY spell of the appropriate level.

This is a much better problem to have than what I was worried about, which was that it wasn't enough. It's much easier to take powers away and nerf abilities than it is to add more content.

I have concerns about cherry-picking via multiclassing - the PHB classes (except you, cleric) are careful about this and it sets the bar high for new classes.

I think if Incarnum Radiance gets a nerf, it shouldn't be a big problem. I figure if it's good enough for clerics, it's good enough for me, and as above, if you want something like heavy armor proficiency, you're not getting the equivalent other cool feature.

One thing I haven't mentioned, but 5e uses concentration to keep from too many buffs. I think that a lot of the soulmeld abilities should have this. Like maybe Airstep Sandals requires concentration to use, and that requirement goes away with Throat.

This one might take some playtesting, but it's a good thing to keep in mind for more complex effects.

And the Incandescent features need a rework, 5e just doesn't support that level of buffing for yourself, much less partywide.

Agreed.

 

[Gradine]

Some brief initial thoughts:

Yeah, Incarnum Radiance needs some serious nerfing.
Honestly, I'd like to see more fluff in the differences between archetypes. The philosophical differences between the original MoI classes were a big part of why I loved that book in the first place.
Reap Essentia: Not sure why the creature needs to be hostile? Why not any living creature small or larger? It's only once per long rest, so I don't see how it breaks anything if the guy can stab a random villager or break a little bunny rabbit's neck for power. Not all Soulmelds are combat related after all.
Soulborn feels like it's missing something. I'm not saying it's not balanced, I couldn't tell you the math of what benefits the extra proficiencies and attack give. But compared to the other options it's a bit... boring? Not sure what I'd add at the top of my head but there needs to be more flavor there. Soulborn are themselves tools; weapons towards advancing their philosophy. Some kind of Divine Strike/Smite analog seems like the easiest route to go (the original Soulborn had a Smite) but I think you could (and possibly should) go a little weird with it. I'll think more about it and toss some ideas around later.

Soulmelds:
I can see why you went this route but I think there needs to be some more gate-keeping here. It doesn't have to a full spell list with levels, but something like the Warlock invocation or Way of Four Elements lists (with level requirements for specific soulmelds, like, say, those that grant flight) might be appropriate. This would require some changes to the feat but not many (you must be the appropriate level to learn the soulmeld; you can change soulmelds known when you level up).
I think there definitely needs to be a "soulmelds known" mechanic; it can be more generous than the typical "spells known" class. I also think that this means that soulmelds have wider availability between archetypes; you no-longer have to arbitrarily silo soulmelds so that each one has an even list. As-is, my old Incarnate's signatures soulmelds are split between each of the three "normal" archetypes (Totemists have always had their own weird stuff).

 

[Goober4473]

Honestly, I'd like to see more fluff in the differences between archetypes. The philosophical differences between the original MoI classes were a big part of why I loved that book in the first place.

I'll likely add some more fluff as the mechanics get more solid. I wanted to move away from alignment as a primary determining factor though, and turn the necrocarnate from "the worst evil imaginable" to "kind of spooky" to allow it as a real player option outside of pure evil games.

Reap Essentia: Not sure why the creature needs to be hostile? Why not any living creature small or larger? It's only once per long rest, so I don't see how it breaks anything if the guy can stab a random villager or break a little bunny rabbit's neck for power. Not all Soulmelds are combat related after all.

I feel like attacking a villager would make it hostile. The wording is mostly there to allow the DM to make the final call. A harmless bunny rabbit is probably not challenging enough to kill to really count, while a random villager might be at lower levels, but less so later. Basically, I want to avoid the "torch an anthill" problem with that ability in 3.5.

Soulborn feels like it's missing something. I'm not saying it's not balanced, I couldn't tell you the math of what benefits the extra proficiencies and attack give. But compared to the other options it's a bit... boring? Not sure what I'd add at the top of my head but there needs to be more flavor there. Soulborn are themselves tools; weapons towards advancing their philosophy. Some kind of Divine Strike/Smite analog seems like the easiest route to go (the original Soulborn had a Smite) but I think you could (and possibly should) go a little weird with it. I'll think more about it and toss some ideas around later.

I definitely want to differentiate soulborn from paladins. They always felt, in 3.5, like a sort of knock-off paladin with some incarnate soulmelds, instead of their own unique thing. Do you think giving them a (mostly) unique soulmeld list, as well as martial weapon and heavy armor proficiency doesn't do the job of keeping them different feeling from other incarnates?

Soulmelds:
I can see why you went this route but I think there needs to be some more gate-keeping here. It doesn't have to a full spell list with levels, but something like the Warlock invocation or Way of Four Elements lists (with level requirements for specific soulmelds, like, say, those that grant flight) might be appropriate. This would require some changes to the feat but not many (you must be the appropriate level to learn the soulmeld; you can change soulmelds known when you level up).
I think there definitely needs to be a "soulmelds known" mechanic; it can be more generous than the typical "spells known" class. I also think that this means that soulmelds have wider availability between archetypes; you no-longer have to arbitrarily silo soulmelds so that each one has an even list. As-is, my old Incarnate's signatures soulmelds are split between each of the three "normal" archetypes (Totemists have always had their own weird stuff).

I really wanted to keep the "choose from all soulmelds from the start" feel of the original. Since you "prepare" them each day, this mostly works like a cleric or druid having access to their whole spell list, which works fine. Rapid Meldshaping allows them to swap out quickly, but "extreme versatility" is ultimately the incarnate's niche.

I think having level-based soulmelds makes it too complicated, and limits things too much. Soulmelds currently all share a progression of basic effect, essentia effect that improves based on regular chakras, and greater chakra powers, and I like that setup a lot.

As for splitting up the incarnate soulmelds, it's one of the main ways the different subclasses are differentiated from each other. Allowing much more cross-pollination than is currently available might serve to blend the subclasses too much, and 20 options is already quite a lot. Perhaps earlier access to a little bit of Diverse Meldshaping would help?

 

[Gradine]

I'll likely add some more fluff as the mechanics get more solid. I wanted to move away from alignment as a primary determining factor though, and turn the necrocarnate from "the worst evil imaginable" to "kind of spooky" to allow it as a real player option outside of pure evil games.

I feel like attacking a villager would make it hostile. The wording is mostly there to allow the DM to make the final call. A harmless bunny rabbit is probably not challenging enough to kill to really count, while a random villager might be at lower levels, but less so later. Basically, I want to avoid the "torch an anthill" problem with that ability in 3.5.

I definitely want to differentiate soulborn from paladins. They always felt, in 3.5, like a sort of knock-off paladin with some incarnate soulmelds, instead of their own unique thing. Do you think giving them a (mostly) unique soulmeld list, as well as martial weapon and heavy armor proficiency doesn't do the job of keeping them different feeling from other incarnates?

I really wanted to keep the "choose from all soulmelds from the start" feel of the original. Since you "prepare" them each day, this mostly works like a cleric or druid having access to their whole spell list, which works fine. Rapid Meldshaping allows them to swap out quickly, but "extreme versatility" is ultimately the incarnate's niche.

I think having level-based soulmelds makes it too complicated, and limits things too much. Soulmelds currently all share a progression of basic effect, essentia effect that improves based on regular chakras, and greater chakra powers, and I like that setup a lot.

As for splitting up the incarnate soulmelds, it's one of the main ways the different subclasses are differentiated from each other. Allowing much more cross-pollination than is currently available might serve to blend the subclasses too much, and 20 options is already quite a lot. Perhaps earlier access to a little bit of Diverse Meldshaping would help?

I totally get wanting to move away from the alignment-based flavor; my personal take on Incarnum in 5e would revolve instead around more abstract philosophies than alignment. I agree that I'm not sold on Smite being the best solution for the Soulborn; but as-is instead of feeling like a less-interesting Paladin with soulmelds it becomes a less-interesting Fighter with soulmelds; given the choice I know which one I'd prefer, but I think there's a lot of room to come up with something more interesting to be their defining feature other than heavy armor & martial weapons. Because that's a pretty dull defining feature. Like I said, I'll mull it over and try to come up with some interesting ideas.

I guess I'm not a huge fan of using the soulmeld list as the defining characteristic of each subclass (again, except for the totemist, because that was kind of always their shtick). That might be for strictly selfish reasons to be honest; I want an Incarnate class so I can recreate my old Incarnate, and I can't recreate her with your version of the class because her signature soulmelds were divided between three different subclasses. The 3.5 method of splitting soulmelds by class involved giving different classes access to different chakras at different times. That might be how I would attempt to go about it if I were trying to differentiate the classes more, but I get that that doesn't totally gel with the Incandescent/Necrocarnate divide either. Some method/ability to diversify might be a good option. I'm definitely interested in seeing how it develops.

 

[Goober4473]

I totally get wanting to move away from the alignment-based flavor; my personal take on Incarnum in 5e would revolve instead around more abstract philosophies than alignment. I agree that I'm not sold on Smite being the best solution for the Soulborn; but as-is instead of feeling like a less-interesting Paladin with soulmelds it becomes a less-interesting Fighter with soulmelds; given the choice I know which one I'd prefer, but I think there's a lot of room to come up with something more interesting to be their defining feature other than heavy armor & martial weapons. Because that's a pretty dull defining feature. Like I said, I'll mull it over and try to come up with some interesting ideas.

In terms of fluff, I've sort of re-purposed the soulborn from a paladin that can be any corner alignment into more of "choose a cause and be all about that cause, whether it's your own personal goals, a god, a philosophy, or anything else" which is a little difficult to put into mechanics other than the immunity to being charmed or frightened they get at higher level. Their features of weapon/armor proficiency and extra attack aren't quite as flavorful as some of the others, but I think they're important to keep with the main theme of "more fightery incarnate" that they've always had going on, and it gives the impression of a more physically active, "perfecting the body in order to perfect the soul" sort of character. If I can come up with a good ribbon ability to give them, that might help. Perhaps I could give them back the "eyes change color" effect they used to have? Incarnum Defense ended up being too weirdly varied and too similar to Incarnum Radiance to keep, but the eye color thing was always cool.

I guess I'm not a huge fan of using the soulmeld list as the defining characteristic of each subclass (again, except for the totemist, because that was kind of always their shtick). That might be for strictly selfish reasons to be honest; I want an Incarnate class so I can recreate my old Incarnate, and I can't recreate her with your version of the class because her signature soulmelds were divided between three different subclasses. The 3.5 method of splitting soulmelds by class involved giving different classes access to different chakras at different times. That might be how I would attempt to go about it if I were trying to differentiate the classes more, but I get that that doesn't totally gel with the Incandescent/Necrocarnate divide either. Some method/ability to diversify might be a good option. I'm definitely interested in seeing how it develops.

A big part of the divide in soulmelds comes from combining multiple classes into one, and trying to give soulborns their own identity. I wanted to sort of split the difference between having three full classes and having only one class, and I landed on using subclasses that are very different from one another. Of course, using the original three classes as subclasses leaves the "regular incarnate" with far too many options compared to the other two, and the soulborn with almost nothing unique, so I further split original incarnate into Incandescent and Necrocarnate, let soulborns have their own unique set of soulmelds, and paired down some of the excess totemist soulmelds since there was a lot of overlap, leaving 20 soulmelds for each of them with only a few that cross over.

It's been a tough call, and I redesigned the system from the ground up a few times before ending up here, but I think it's the best way to go in terms of making each of the subclasses feel unique and interesting, rather than just providing a few extra features. It does of course mean that updated characters will have to make some different choices, but such is the way of edition updates in general.

I may ultimately do a little bit more cross-pollination of the lists, but I think that will be mostly in response to playtesting, such as if I feel like one of the subclasses is lacking too much in a certain type of ability that another soulmeld would cover. Otherwise, for fleshing out a character, Diverse Meldshaping does net you three out-of-subclass soulmelds by 18th level. It's a long wait for the first one at 10, but I'm not sure I'd want to introduce that kind of complication to the class much earlier than that. Maybe I could add another one at level 6?

The included feat allows you to pick soulmelds from another subclass, but it doesn't let you use their higher level abilities, since that would make the feat much more powerful for Incarnates than for any other class. I could always make another feat that simply add more options, but that's not really a design pattern 5e ever uses, and it steps on the toes of the Diverse Meldshaping class feature.

As for differentiating by chakras, they really ever served to open up higher level powers. Soulborn got access to chakra binds later than incarnates in the same way paladins got access to higher level spells later than clerics. They didn't get them in say a different order or combination, just later (and sometimes bundled together for brevity's sake, IIRC). It didn't really differentiate the classes any more than "full caster" and "half caster," which isn't a divide I can really use for subclasses.