FireLance
Legend
2000th Post!
I've picked up a copy of Magic of Incarnum at my FLGS and had a quick look through. I miust say it presents an interesting take on a new way to tap supernatural effects. This post will focus mostly on the basic mechanics of the new meldshaping system and touch on incarnum feats. However, if you have other questions, please feel free to post them.
Meldshaping
Magic of Incarnum presents three classes: the Incarnate, the Soulborn and the Totemist, called "meldshaping" classes because they all possess the ability to shape incarnum into soulmelds.
It is perhaps easiest to think of a soulmeld as a magic item that provide a small bonus. For example, the crystal helm soulmeld provides a +2 resistance bonus on Will saves against charm and compulsion effects.
Each of the classes has access to a list of soulmelds that they are able to shape, and they can shape any of the soulmelds on their list. Once a soulmeld is shaped, it becomes permanently attached to the meldshaper. A meldshaper can change his soulmelds after 8 hours of rest (in the same way that a wizard must rest before he can prepare spells) and meditating for 1 hour. At the end of that hour, he can change any soulmeld that he has for another one on his list. If his rest or meditation is interrupted, he cannot change any of his existing soulmelds, but he does not lose them, either.
A meldshaper faces some restrictions, though. He can only shape a number of melds at one time based on his class and level, from 0 for a low-level Soulborn to 9 for a high-level Incarnate or Totemist. Each soulmeld must also occupy a "chakra" that corresponds to a magic item slot. There are ten such "chakras": crown (headband), hands (gloves), feet (boots), arms (bracers), brow (lenses), shoulders (cloak), throat (amulet), waist (belt), heart (vest) and soul (armor). You cannot place more than one soulmeld on the same chakra (unless you have the Double Chakra feat), but some soulmelds can be placed onto more than one chakra. For example, bluesteel bracers occupy the hands chakra, so you cannot shape another soulmeld that occupies your hands chakra. However, mauling gauntlets can occupy your hands or arms, so if you wanted to benefit from both, you could place the mauling gauntlets on your arms instead. You can place both a magic item and a soulmeld on the same chakra (but see Binding a Soulmeld, below).
The basic effect provided by a soulmeld is really very minor, perhaps to balance the fact that it is almost always active. In order to make the meldshaping classes viable at higher levels, there are two ways of enhancing a soulmeld: investing essentia and binding the soulmeld.
Investing Essentia
Each of the meldshaping classes has a number of points of "essentia" which can be used to increase the power of the soulmelds they have shaped. For example, a typical 1st-level incarnate has two soulmelds and one point of essentia, which he can allocate to either of his soulmelds. He may re-allocate his essentia as a swift action once per round. Assume he has shaped crystal helm and bluesteel bracers. Allocating a point of essentia to crystal helm gives him a +1 deflection bonus to AC, while allocating a point of essentia to bluesteel bracers givens him a +1 bonus on weapon damage rolls. Hence, he could shift his focus from offense to defense from round to round depending on his needs. As an added measure of balance, the amount of essentia you can allocate to a soulmeld is limited to character level/6 + 1 (certain feats and class features may increase this limit). Hence, when he reaches 2nd level and gains another point of essentia, he still could not allocate more than one point to any of his soulmelds.
Binding a Soulmeld
The second way of increasing the power of a soulmeld is to bind it to the chakra it occupies. A soulmeld that is bound to a chakra provides an additional effect, and the more powerful the chakra it is bound to, the more powerful its effect. For example, keeneye lenses provide a base +4 insight bonus on Spot checks. When bound to the brow chakra, it grants the ability to see invisible creatures and objects as see invisibility. When bound to the soul chakra, it grants the effet of true seeing. A meldshaping class gradually gains the ability to support more bindings at a time, and to bind soulmelds to more powerful chakras. Not all meldshaping classes gain the ability to bind soulmelds to the most powerful chakras. Totemists do not gain the ability to bind a soulmeld to the soul chakra, and Soulborns do not gain the ability to bind soulmelds to the heart or soul chakras. The downside of binding a soulmeld to a chakra is that you cannot also benefit from a magic item in that space (unless you have the Split Chakra feat).
Overall Thoughts on Meldshaping
The main advantage to meldshaping is its flexibility. Since a meldshaper can potentially shape any of the soulmelds on its list, he can decide to gain a new focus every day. The ability to reallocate essentia between soulmelds from round to round is an additional flexibility that meldshapers can take advantage of. Despite this, the system is relatively easy to manage as the choices converge. Once you have picked your daily selection of soulmelds, you choose among them which you wish to bind, and which you wish to allocate essentia to. At first glance, the soulmelds also seem in line with what characters of equivalent level should be able to do. All in all, I'd say it is a refreshing and innovate system.
Incarnum Feats
To put it simply: I really like the feats.
There are feats that increase combat ability and class abilities like Midnight Dodge, which grants you a +1 dodge bonus to AC against a selected opponent for each point of essentia you invest in the feat, and Sapphire Smite, which grants you one extra smite per day and a +1 bonus on smite damage for each point of essentia you invest in the feat. In most cases, feats that require you to invest essentia in them will grant you one bonus point of essentia (as the two feats mentioned do). Again, the advantage is flexibility. With both these feats, you could also choose to gain two extra smites a day and a +2 bonus damage to each smite, or a +2 dodge bonus against the opponent of your choice. However, you have to make this choice at the start of the day (once you invest essentia in a feat, you cannot change it for 24 hours), so moving essentia around feats is less flexible than moving them around soulmelds.
In addition, you can take feats to shape a selected soulmeld (unlike meldshaping classes, you cannot change your selection) and bind them to your chakras. Hence, any character of any class can play around with meldshaping, and meldshapers can even select a soulmeld that is not on their list. Thus, any character could potentially use any of the material in this book.
OK, enough gushing. It's getting late my time and I need to get to sleep. If you have any questions, post them here and I'll answer them the best I can.
I've picked up a copy of Magic of Incarnum at my FLGS and had a quick look through. I miust say it presents an interesting take on a new way to tap supernatural effects. This post will focus mostly on the basic mechanics of the new meldshaping system and touch on incarnum feats. However, if you have other questions, please feel free to post them.
Meldshaping
Magic of Incarnum presents three classes: the Incarnate, the Soulborn and the Totemist, called "meldshaping" classes because they all possess the ability to shape incarnum into soulmelds.
It is perhaps easiest to think of a soulmeld as a magic item that provide a small bonus. For example, the crystal helm soulmeld provides a +2 resistance bonus on Will saves against charm and compulsion effects.
Each of the classes has access to a list of soulmelds that they are able to shape, and they can shape any of the soulmelds on their list. Once a soulmeld is shaped, it becomes permanently attached to the meldshaper. A meldshaper can change his soulmelds after 8 hours of rest (in the same way that a wizard must rest before he can prepare spells) and meditating for 1 hour. At the end of that hour, he can change any soulmeld that he has for another one on his list. If his rest or meditation is interrupted, he cannot change any of his existing soulmelds, but he does not lose them, either.
A meldshaper faces some restrictions, though. He can only shape a number of melds at one time based on his class and level, from 0 for a low-level Soulborn to 9 for a high-level Incarnate or Totemist. Each soulmeld must also occupy a "chakra" that corresponds to a magic item slot. There are ten such "chakras": crown (headband), hands (gloves), feet (boots), arms (bracers), brow (lenses), shoulders (cloak), throat (amulet), waist (belt), heart (vest) and soul (armor). You cannot place more than one soulmeld on the same chakra (unless you have the Double Chakra feat), but some soulmelds can be placed onto more than one chakra. For example, bluesteel bracers occupy the hands chakra, so you cannot shape another soulmeld that occupies your hands chakra. However, mauling gauntlets can occupy your hands or arms, so if you wanted to benefit from both, you could place the mauling gauntlets on your arms instead. You can place both a magic item and a soulmeld on the same chakra (but see Binding a Soulmeld, below).
The basic effect provided by a soulmeld is really very minor, perhaps to balance the fact that it is almost always active. In order to make the meldshaping classes viable at higher levels, there are two ways of enhancing a soulmeld: investing essentia and binding the soulmeld.
Investing Essentia
Each of the meldshaping classes has a number of points of "essentia" which can be used to increase the power of the soulmelds they have shaped. For example, a typical 1st-level incarnate has two soulmelds and one point of essentia, which he can allocate to either of his soulmelds. He may re-allocate his essentia as a swift action once per round. Assume he has shaped crystal helm and bluesteel bracers. Allocating a point of essentia to crystal helm gives him a +1 deflection bonus to AC, while allocating a point of essentia to bluesteel bracers givens him a +1 bonus on weapon damage rolls. Hence, he could shift his focus from offense to defense from round to round depending on his needs. As an added measure of balance, the amount of essentia you can allocate to a soulmeld is limited to character level/6 + 1 (certain feats and class features may increase this limit). Hence, when he reaches 2nd level and gains another point of essentia, he still could not allocate more than one point to any of his soulmelds.
Binding a Soulmeld
The second way of increasing the power of a soulmeld is to bind it to the chakra it occupies. A soulmeld that is bound to a chakra provides an additional effect, and the more powerful the chakra it is bound to, the more powerful its effect. For example, keeneye lenses provide a base +4 insight bonus on Spot checks. When bound to the brow chakra, it grants the ability to see invisible creatures and objects as see invisibility. When bound to the soul chakra, it grants the effet of true seeing. A meldshaping class gradually gains the ability to support more bindings at a time, and to bind soulmelds to more powerful chakras. Not all meldshaping classes gain the ability to bind soulmelds to the most powerful chakras. Totemists do not gain the ability to bind a soulmeld to the soul chakra, and Soulborns do not gain the ability to bind soulmelds to the heart or soul chakras. The downside of binding a soulmeld to a chakra is that you cannot also benefit from a magic item in that space (unless you have the Split Chakra feat).
Overall Thoughts on Meldshaping
The main advantage to meldshaping is its flexibility. Since a meldshaper can potentially shape any of the soulmelds on its list, he can decide to gain a new focus every day. The ability to reallocate essentia between soulmelds from round to round is an additional flexibility that meldshapers can take advantage of. Despite this, the system is relatively easy to manage as the choices converge. Once you have picked your daily selection of soulmelds, you choose among them which you wish to bind, and which you wish to allocate essentia to. At first glance, the soulmelds also seem in line with what characters of equivalent level should be able to do. All in all, I'd say it is a refreshing and innovate system.
Incarnum Feats
To put it simply: I really like the feats.
There are feats that increase combat ability and class abilities like Midnight Dodge, which grants you a +1 dodge bonus to AC against a selected opponent for each point of essentia you invest in the feat, and Sapphire Smite, which grants you one extra smite per day and a +1 bonus on smite damage for each point of essentia you invest in the feat. In most cases, feats that require you to invest essentia in them will grant you one bonus point of essentia (as the two feats mentioned do). Again, the advantage is flexibility. With both these feats, you could also choose to gain two extra smites a day and a +2 bonus damage to each smite, or a +2 dodge bonus against the opponent of your choice. However, you have to make this choice at the start of the day (once you invest essentia in a feat, you cannot change it for 24 hours), so moving essentia around feats is less flexible than moving them around soulmelds.
In addition, you can take feats to shape a selected soulmeld (unlike meldshaping classes, you cannot change your selection) and bind them to your chakras. Hence, any character of any class can play around with meldshaping, and meldshapers can even select a soulmeld that is not on their list. Thus, any character could potentially use any of the material in this book.
OK, enough gushing. It's getting late my time and I need to get to sleep. If you have any questions, post them here and I'll answer them the best I can.
