A character based on Chakras..

[Three_Haligonians]

Here's a neat one,

I have a player who wants her character to be based on the idea of chakras - the "mystic centers" of a person's body. She'd like to be able to open the chakras of allies to gain benefits and to close the chakras of enemies to impose penalties.

What kind of mechanics or character builds would you use to accomplish this? Any kind of crunch will do, as long as the above flavour can be applied. What kind of classes/feats/spells/etc would best fit this idea?

I should note that even though Magic of Incarnum actually uses chakras as part of its system, it's not really what she is looking for - the name is right but the crunch is wrong here.

EDIT: The player is looking to blend divine magic with psionic power - it's unusual but any help on how to combine them effectively is most appreciated.

Also, she wants to remove her turn undead ability - are there any alternative class features for clerics that remove turning?

Thanks

J from Three Haligonians

 

[Thurbane]

Well, I was going to suggest Magic of Incanum, but...

I think MoI is really the only WotC product that deals with chakras in any way. The only other thing I could suggest is psionics, and I'm not much of an expert on those.

 

[Winding Road]

Mechanically, your player needs to be able to both buff her allies and debuff her enemies. You could probably accomplish this with quite a few full casting classes, but I don't know if that would fit with your flavor requirements.

Ignoring casting, the abilities that seem closest to what she wants are the marshal's auras (Miniatures Handbook) for buffing and the hexblade's curse (CompWar) for debuffing. Multiclassing the two would get you both abilities, and the two have some good synergy with their special abilities both being based off Charisma. However, neither class is particularly strong, so hybridizing the two might make for a dangerously weak character, depending on the power level of your game. Are custom feats a possibility? Coming up with a feat that allows better multiclassing between the two classes, along the lines of the "Ascetic [Blank]" feats in CompAdv, would do a lot for the viability of the character build.

For this build, Marshal 4/Hexblade X is probably the best balance of levels. Charisma should be as high as possible to boost both the minor auras and the curse DC. Featwise, Ability Focus (hexblade's curse) will help a lot.

 

[Alzrius]

The Pressure Point Strike feat, from Dragon #336, is based around hitting various pressure points to cause either beneficial or harmful effects. It'd be easy to say that this was manipulating a person's chakras.

Also, the Advanced Gamemaster's Guide, from Green Ronin Publishing, has a section on "Magic Chakras." This is based on the idea that magic flows through a person's chakra points naturally, and they use these points to access the power in magic items; hence why there are body slots. It has a few suggestions and ways to manipulate this system.

 

[Bacris]

Don't forget the Chakra Savant from Hyperconscious or the Meditant from The Mind's Eye.

 

[DreamChaser]

How bout ardent from complete psionic perhaps with some levels of favored soul to address more divine connection. Or an ardent / divine mind combo. The auras of the divine mind could easily be linked to chakras and she can skip the undead turning altogether. She'll have a fair array of powers which she can tailor to her concept.

I would suggest that she start with the Life and Pain & Suffering mantles and add in the Physical Power, Mental Power, Corruption & Madness, Natural World mantles (assume a rise to 10th level as ardent). Many of the divine mind powers connect well with this as well.

Just a thought.

DC

 

[Arkhandus]

Could just go Sorcerer/Psion/Cerebremancer with different flavor.

Otherwise, man, I'd probably just suggest making a new base class to handle it.

 

[Dagredhel]

The Meditant (revised)

Psychic Energy Centers

This sounds like exactly what you're looking for. Choosing the base psionic class and powers offers tremendous potential for customization. Ardent does sound like a natural fit, although I think Psychic Warrior would allow earlier entry (because of the bonus feats.) Another interesting idea would be to expand the Meditant PrC into a full base class in it's own right.