How have you tweaked Incarnum?

[JoeGKushner]

Well, it hasn't been out that long.

The Mark of Heroes game I'll be running on Friday looks like having two Incarnum characters in it. I'm looking forward to it.

The Ulek campaign will have two incarnum characters as well, but it's still a week or two before it gets started.

Cheers!

So that sounds like four characters altogether. How have they played out? My group is sometimes a little slow to playtest material so I hav to spring it on them in the form of NPCs and other bits.

 

[MerricB]

So that sounds like four characters altogether. How have they played out? My group is sometimes a little slow to playtest material so I hav to spring it on them in the form of NPCs and other bits.

I'm still waiting for people to be free before the Ulek game gets underway (mainly myself). I was performing last Sunday and this Sunday, so it'll be next weekend before we can start.

Only one PC in the Mark of Heroes game, as it turned out. A 4th level human Totemist.

Here's the stats he used:

Riley
Male Human Totemist 4
CG Medium humanoid
Init +0; Senses Spot +8, Listen +1* (+7 with essentia)
Languages Common
---
AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 18
hp 35 (4 HD)
Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +2
--
Speed 30 ft (6 squares)
Melee 2 claws +5/+5 (1d6+2 plus 3d4 acid) or
Melee +1 longspear +6 (1d8+4/x3, reach) or
Ranged mwk lt crossbow +5 (1d8/x3, 80 ft)
Base Atk: +4; Grp: +6
Atk Options Cleave, Power Attack
Special Actions teleport self only up to 10 ft.
Combat Gear 4 potions of cure light wounds
--
Essentia Pool 3; Capacity 1; Chakra Binds 1; Soulmelds 4
Essentia Investment
- Blink shirt 0 (teleport 10 ft. as standard action)
- Kruthik claws 3 (+10 competence bonus to Hide & Move Silently checks; 2 claws, 1d6+2+3d4 acid; bound to totem chakra; Expanded Soulmeld Capacity)
- Wormtail belt 0 (+2 natural AC)
- Yrthrak mask 0 (+4 competence bonus to Listen checks)
--
Abilities Str 14, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
SQ chakra binds (totem +1); illiteracy; totem's protection; wild empathy +4 (+8 vs kruthik)
Feats Cleave, Expanded Soulmeld Capacity, Power Attack (b)
Skills Handle Animal +6; Knowledge (nature) +9; Spellcraft +7; Spot +9; Survival +7 (+9 outdoors)
Possessions combat gear plus +1 longspear, +1 chain shirt, 110 gp
Totem's Protection (Ex): +4 bonus on saves against abilities of magical beasts

The character was very effective in combat; about the same level as the 4th level Barbarian in my Age of Worms campaign.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing an incarnate in play, though.

Cheers!

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

Interesting character! He seems quite powerful.

His touch AC seems wrong by the way... his AC breakdown is

+5 armor bonus (from chain shirt)
+2 natural armor bonus
+1 dex bonus

only the dex bonus contributes to touch AC

Ken

 

[MerricB]

Interesting character! He seems quite powerful.

His touch AC seems wrong by the way... his AC breakdown is

Oops. I was using the format I posted of the 5th level version of him as a base, and didn't adjust that figure.

Here's the fifth level version for the next session:

Riley
Male Human Totemist 4/Barbarian 1
CG Medium humanoid
Init +0; Senses Spot +8, Listen +1*
Languages Common
---
AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 18
hp 46 (5 HD)
Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +2
--
Speed 40 ft (8 squares)
Melee 2 claws +6/+6 (1d6+2 plus 3d4 acid) or
Melee +1 longspear +7 (1d8+4/x3, reach) or
Ranged mwk lt crossbow +6 (1d8/x3, 80 ft)
Base Atk: +4; Grp: +6
Atk Options Cleave, Power Attack
Special Actions Rage 1/day (8 rounds), teleport self only up to 10 ft.
Combat Gear 4 potions of cure light wounds
--
Essentia Pool 3; Capacity 1; Chakra Binds 1; Soulmelds 4
Essentia Investment
- Blink shirt 0 (teleport 10 ft. as standard action)
- Kruthik claws 3 (+10 competence bonus to Hide & Move Silently checks; 2 claws, 1d6+2+3d4 acid; bound to totem chakra)
- Wormtail belt 0 (+2 natural AC)
- Yrthrak mask 0 (+4 competence bonus to Listen checks)
--
Abilities Str 14, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
SQ chakra binds (totem); fast movement, illiteracy; totem's protection; wild empathy +4 (+8 vs kruthik)
Feats Cleave, Expanded Soulmeld Capacity, Power Attack(b)
Skills Handle Animal +6; Intimidate +3; Knowledge (nature) +9; Spellcraft +7; Spot +9; Survival +8 (+10 outdoors)
Possessions combat gear plus +1 longspear, +1 chain shirt, +1 ring of protection, 330 gp
Totem's Protection (Ex): +4 bonus on saves against abilities of magical beasts
--
When raging, Riley has the following altered statistics
AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 16
hp 56 (5 HD)
Fort +11, Will +4
Melee 2 claws +8/+8 (1d6+4 plus 3d4 acid) or
Melee +1 longspear +9 (1d8+7/x3, reach)
Grp +8
Abilities Str 18, Con 20

(The progression is towards the Totem Rager prestige class).

Cheers!

 

[Drowbane]

Totem Ragers are sick yo.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I've got a few thoughts:

Incarnum is actually done through pure artifice, in a technological society. The chakra binds are just activating the items that are implanted in your flesh, perhaps nano-bot style. The alignment restrictions are instead company restrictions, various logos own the parts that go to make you up. Gives it a very "corporate junkie" feel.

After watching a few too many episodes of Naruto, I can imagine Incarnum like that series' Chakra, an energy they can shift around and use to augment themselves. The various alignment restrictions change to dojo restrictions based on clan loyalties.

Much more subtle...