I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Magic of Incarnum: Great system, iffy flavor text...
But certainly the good is salvagable. Certainly we need not throw the baby out with the bathwater, if we don't like the neon soulstuff.
In my own campaign, I deal with it with Monks. With ki, that ill-defined but vaguely Asian mystical substance that some classes can build up. I have often thought that the bonus feats for monks could be shaped into a respectable school for different fighting styles (a note on which Unearthed Arcana agrees).
Incarnum, IMC, has become the power to harnass and use the body's own energy...ki.
A new character for a player was a monk 7/totemist 2. A student of the Frozen Beast school, he can gain incarnum feats instead of the usual monk bonus feats. Instead of an "essential pool", he has a ki pool, and instead of "soulmelds," he has ki arts. He has learned to use his ki in striking (Sapphire Fist) and in defense (Midnight Dodge). His training has allowed him to better use his body's inner forces (Improved Essentia Capacity). By using his inner body force, he can survive in arctic temperatures (Frost Helm), guard himself using the Art of the Beetle (Ankheg Breastplate), and instead of knowing how to stun his prey with a blow, he instead can sap their own inner streigth (Winter Mask).
So far, his training as a fighter has progressed faster than his training as a master of ki, so he can only emulate the beasts of the wild (Totem chakra binds), without truly being able to use the energy latent in himself as a beast, an animal.
It's worth noting that, by the book, such a character is impossible. Monks must be Lawful, Totemists must be Neutral. Monks cannot multiclass. But with a different kind of gloss, Incarnum has gone from melding the very essence of souls and spirits to resist cold, to becoming a feature of special training and inner spiritual power. The mechanics, solid as they are, remain unchanged. But it's a different kind of feel, something more esoteric and more internal, something more personal and less shiny sparkling lights....something with a mention in the rules, but which can be expanded and codified using something like the Incarnum system.
Other classes and prestige classes use ki. A Monk/"Chaos Incarnate" who follows the path of speed and mobility, pushing his feet beyond the mortal limits of most feet? A Ninja/"Law Incarnate" who takes up the path of the assassin, using his ki to hide and strike a single deadly accurate blow? A team of Kensai/Soulborn who make up the army of a secluded mountain village? A dojo at which characters can train their own ki, learn to push their bodies into transcendant realms?
It works pretty solidly, despite violating the rules and discarding much of the flavor. And it has added a new dimension to the ki of my world, more dimension to the martial artists, and a better grasp on what kinds of powers every creature has in them, waiting to be unlocked...
But certainly the good is salvagable. Certainly we need not throw the baby out with the bathwater, if we don't like the neon soulstuff.
In my own campaign, I deal with it with Monks. With ki, that ill-defined but vaguely Asian mystical substance that some classes can build up. I have often thought that the bonus feats for monks could be shaped into a respectable school for different fighting styles (a note on which Unearthed Arcana agrees).
Incarnum, IMC, has become the power to harnass and use the body's own energy...ki.
A new character for a player was a monk 7/totemist 2. A student of the Frozen Beast school, he can gain incarnum feats instead of the usual monk bonus feats. Instead of an "essential pool", he has a ki pool, and instead of "soulmelds," he has ki arts. He has learned to use his ki in striking (Sapphire Fist) and in defense (Midnight Dodge). His training has allowed him to better use his body's inner forces (Improved Essentia Capacity). By using his inner body force, he can survive in arctic temperatures (Frost Helm), guard himself using the Art of the Beetle (Ankheg Breastplate), and instead of knowing how to stun his prey with a blow, he instead can sap their own inner streigth (Winter Mask).
So far, his training as a fighter has progressed faster than his training as a master of ki, so he can only emulate the beasts of the wild (Totem chakra binds), without truly being able to use the energy latent in himself as a beast, an animal.
It's worth noting that, by the book, such a character is impossible. Monks must be Lawful, Totemists must be Neutral. Monks cannot multiclass. But with a different kind of gloss, Incarnum has gone from melding the very essence of souls and spirits to resist cold, to becoming a feature of special training and inner spiritual power. The mechanics, solid as they are, remain unchanged. But it's a different kind of feel, something more esoteric and more internal, something more personal and less shiny sparkling lights....something with a mention in the rules, but which can be expanded and codified using something like the Incarnum system.
Other classes and prestige classes use ki. A Monk/"Chaos Incarnate" who follows the path of speed and mobility, pushing his feet beyond the mortal limits of most feet? A Ninja/"Law Incarnate" who takes up the path of the assassin, using his ki to hide and strike a single deadly accurate blow? A team of Kensai/Soulborn who make up the army of a secluded mountain village? A dojo at which characters can train their own ki, learn to push their bodies into transcendant realms?
It works pretty solidly, despite violating the rules and discarding much of the flavor. And it has added a new dimension to the ki of my world, more dimension to the martial artists, and a better grasp on what kinds of powers every creature has in them, waiting to be unlocked...
