Soulknife (Psionic striker) Complete with Paragon Paths & Feats

[Kobold Avenger]

Soulknives are a seemingly rare breed. Most aren't even aware of the existence of individuals that can shape and focus their will into a weapon they can wield in their hands. Soulknives would very likely have it that way, as they have kept to secretive orders of warriors and assassins through out the ages. In many ways they are assassins, as no one suspects a soulknife till they've manifested a mindblade in their hands.

It's thought that in ancient times their existed many schools of soulknives, who practiced their talents as an art, shaping their mindblades in many creative ways. They honed their psionics abilities into the ultimate expressions of their thoughts and their physical talents. A skill only starting to be discovered again by modern soulknives.

Class Traits
Role: Striker. Your attacks are mostly through your mindblade, capable of delivering high damage. With your psychic disciplines, you can warp minds, bypass the strongest of armors with your blade, and move in ways that defy the laws of physics.

Power Source: Psionic. Your powers come from your mind, with your mindblade as the ultimate expression of such powers.

Key Abilities: Intelligence, Dexterity, Charisma
Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, Leather
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Melee, Simple Ranged, Shortsword, Longsword
Implements: tattoos, psicrystals
Defenses: +1 Reflex, +1 Will

Hit points at 1st level: 12 + Constitution
Hit point per level gained: 5
Healing Surges per day: 6 + constitution modifier

Trained Skills: Choose 4 skills at 1st level
Class skills: Acrobatics (dex), Athletics (str), Bluff (Cha), Insight (wis), Intimidate (cha), Perception (wis), Psionics (int), Stealth (dex), Thievery (dex)

Build options: Weaver soulknife, Lurk soulknife
Class Features: Mindblade, Soulknife Path, Attune Mindblade, Psychic Strike

Characteristics
Overview: A soulknife strikes hard and fast with their mindblade, which most of their powers rely on. Mindblades can deliver a lot of damage when combined with psychic strikes, and many powers inflict plenty of hindering conditions on your enemies. You prefer hit and run attacks, as you aren't that hardy in combat. However you have an array of powers which let you move really fast, walk on walls, fly for a short time and teleport around the battlefield. As well as some deceptive powers.

Races: Most races aren't known for their soulknife traditions as soulknives were an obscure practice. Those who are most likely soulknives are Kalashtar, Xephs and Elan. Despite the association that Githyanki and Githzerai have with psionics, there aren't many members of those races who are soulknives. Only recently other races like Humans, Eladrin, Tieflings and Hobgoblins are discovering the arts of the soulknife.

Creating a Soulknife
Soulknives depend on dexterity, intelligence and charisma for their powers. Dexterity is important both of the builds. Of the two builds Weavers tend to rely more on charisma than they do intelligence, while Lurks rely more on intelligence.

Soulknife Class Features:
Mindblade: A soulknife can manifest their will in the form of a mindblade, a physical manifestation of their will. As such a mindblade has weight yet is also weightless. It feels much like a real weapon in the hands of soulknife, yet can't exist in the hands of others. What a mindblade looks like is defendant on the personality of the soulknife. A mindblade can look like a finely crafted weapon, or a glowing shaft of light, a shard or even shards of crystals, and even stranger forms such as a pillar of blood or a cluster of spectral faces. The forms of a mindblade can defy physics, and some even float in the air directed solely by the movements of a soulknife's hands.

A mindblade in game terms can be any one-handed melee weapon a soulknife is proficient in. They don't gain any benefit for using a mindblade 2-handed, but they can manifest a second mindblade if the second one is an off-hand weapon. Manifesting a soulknife is a minor action. You are still wielding your mindblade after any soulknife attack unless otherwise specified.

Attune Mindblade: A soulknife give make their mindblade have the qualities of any single magical weapon that is of their level +2. It requires a one hour ritual, where the soulknife meditates and attunes their mindblade to bring the desired effect to their weapon. The cost of this ritual is 1/2 the cost it would normally take to create a new item.

Psychic Strike: As a minor action a soulknife can charge their mindblade with psionic energy. The next enemy a soulknife hits with their mindblade takes extra damage from the psychic strike charge. The extra damage is determined by level. Once an enemy is affected by psychic strike, that mindblade loses it's charge, and the soulknife must recharge the mindblade to use psychic strike again. Some powers and abilities may affect how the psychic strike may be charged. Charging a mindblade for psychic strike can be done as part of the minor action to manifest a mindblade.
1st-10th: +1d8
11th-20th: +2d8
21st-30th: +3d8

Soulknife Path: There are two known 'schools' of the soulknives. One is called the weavers who use their ability to shape their mindblades in impressive ways. They are a school known for the grace and flashiness of the mindblade, making the path of a soulknife a creative art as much as it is a martial art, part dancer as well as warrior. The other known school of the soulknife, are known as lurks. Lurks are psionically trained killers, tacticians and deceivers. The lurks are among some of the most feared killers as they're very capable of striking from anywhere, from anyone. All a lurk needs to do is get close to their enemies, so that they can strike at any time.
Weaver Soulknife: A weaver soulknife adds 1/2 their charisma modifier to their speed (minimum 1).
Lurk Soulknife: A lurk soulknife adds their intelligence modifier to damage done by their psychic strikes.

Powers: Many soulknives call their disciplines 'augments' as it's seen as ways of augmenting the powers of their mindblades.

Coming Soon....
Soulknife powers, such as: Blade to the Mind, Knife to the Soul, Throw Mindblade, Up the Walls, Burst, Mental Leap, Cloud Mind, Unfocusing Strike, Stunning Blade, Stygian Blade, Synaptic Disconnect, Knife Shards and more.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

At will Powers
Throw Mindblade (Soulknife Attack 1)
You propel your mindblade, it could actually be thrown or launched thrown an act of will
At will * Psionic, Mindblade
Standard Action
Ranged 10
Target: One creature
Attack: Dexterity vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + dexterity modifier
Increase to 2[W] + dexterity modifier at 21st level
Special: You can use throw mindblade as a basic ranged attack.

Solid Strike (Soulknife Attack 1)
Your mindblade hits with your full force of will
At will * Psionic, Mindblade, Force
Standard Action
Melee Mindblade
Target: One creature
Attack: Dexterity vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + dexterity modifier + intelligence or charisma modifier force damage.
Increase to 2[W] + dexterity modifier + intelligence or charisma modifier at 21st level

Insubstantial Blade (Soulknife Attack 1)
Your mindblade becomes insubstantial ignore your enemy's armor.
At will * Psionic, Mindblade
Standard Action
Melee Mindblade
Target: One creature
Attack: Dexterity vs. Reflex
Hit: 1[W] + charisma modifier. You also inflict full damage against insubstantial enemies.
Increase to 2[W] + charisma modifier at 21st level.

Blade to the Mind (Soulknife Attack 1)
It's the will that's the only thing that stops your mindblade
At will * Psionic, Mindblade, Psychic
Standard Action
Melee Mindblade
Target: One creature
Attack: Dexterity vs. Will
Hit: 1[W] + intelligence modifier psychic damage.
Increase to 2[W] + intelligence modifier at 21st level.

 

[Hawke]

I don't think I'd make the throw blade an at-will power. Seems like I'd try to make the Soulknife a primarily melee character. I see that you're making a very versatile striker that's able to hit any character as needed. Maybe replace the thrown weapon at-will with a Nerve Strike that deals a static (not weapon) damage and makes them slowed as your psychic energy messes with their nervous system?

How does your soulknife damage etc scale beyond the magic item ritual?

Also... "Your" is possessive, what you should be using in the power descriptions. "You're" is a contraction of "You are" so if you rewrite it, "you are mindblade takes flight." Make sense?

Good luck!

 

[Starbuck_II]

Attune Mindblade: A soulknife give make their mindblade have the qualities of any single magical weapon that is of their level +3. It requires a one hour ritual, where the soulknife meditates and attunes their mindblade to bring the desired effect to their weapon.

Doesn't this allow a Soulknife to get a Level 4 weapon at level 1?

Now the rest of the class seems fine for a Striker, but this seems too strong for level 1.

I mean, maybe Level +2 would be better balanced. Hard to saw, it just seems too big visually to be +3.


In addition, you should include words: the Soulknife still has to followe all of the standard prequestites such as weapon type, etc.
Remember, certain magic weapons work only on axes, maces, and hammers, but not Light blades.


Another idea, a Soulknife can through a psychic ability convert gold into into mindblade turning it into any weapon of his Level +3. Difference is the soulknife still pays for the upgrade. You could make him only pay 1/2 the cost (so he gets a discount).

 

[Hawke]

If you want a pay mechanic, what if you just made crystals that you can merge into your soul blade to make it better as the cost to upgrade it?

 

[Atlatl Jones]

For a pay mechanic, it would probably be simplest to say that the soulknife's unique ritual functions like the Enchant Magic Item ritual, except that it only works on the soulblade and the maximum level of the enchantment is Level+3.

 

[zaxzilla]

Psychic Strikes: As a minor action a soulknife can charge their mindblade with psionic energy. An opponent they hit with their mindblade can then be affected by psychic strikes if they soulknife desires it. They are then affected by the psychic strikes until the end of the encounter or whenever the soulknife wants to change the target of their psychic strikes. A soulknife can change the target of their psychic strikes by charging their mindblade and hitting another opponent with it. An opponent affected by psychic strikes, takes an additional ammount of damage from any of the soulknife's attacks with a mindblade, once per round. This damage can be added after damage is applied from any attack the soulknife wants. The extra damage is determined by level. Charging a mindblade for psychic strikes can be done as part of the minor action to manifest a mindblade.
1st-10th: +1d8
11th-20th: +2d8
21st-30th: +3d8

Why not simplify this to "As a minor action a soulknife can charge their mindblade with psionic energy. The next opponent they hit with their mindblade takes additional psychic damage as noted below:"

That would be way simpler to implement and it could then be used on anybody including Opportunity Attacks or a basic melee attack triggered by something like Commanders Strike.

Also I think Throw Mindblade should be considered a "basic ranged attack".

 

[Kobold Avenger]

How does your soulknife damage etc scale beyond the magic item ritual?

The mindblade is a basic melee attack, it scales the same way all basic melee attacks do. Which is 2[W] at 21st level.

I mean, maybe Level +2 would be better balanced. Hard to saw, it just seems too big visually to be +3.


In addition, you should include words: the Soulknife still has to followe all of the standard prequestites such as weapon type, etc.
Remember, certain magic weapons work only on axes, maces, and hammers, but not Light blades.


Another idea, a Soulknife can through a psychic ability convert gold into into mindblade turning it into any weapon of his Level +3. Difference is the soulknife still pays for the upgrade. You could make him only pay 1/2 the cost (so he gets a discount).

I'm still trying to get a good number for it all, and was generally thinking towards the top of the scale instead of the bottom. But 1/2 cost would be a good idea on the cost, simply because I never gave any thought to the cost before.

Why not simplify this to "As a minor action a soulknife can charge their mindblade with psionic energy. The next opponent they hit with their mindblade takes additional psychic damage as noted below:"

That would be way simpler to implement and it could then be used on anybody including Opportunity Attacks or a basic melee attack triggered by something like Commanders Strike.

Also I think Throw Mindblade should be considered a "basic ranged attack".

I sorted of wanted their psychic strikes to last much like the Ranger's Hunter's Quarry or the Warlock's Curse on one opponent, except be slightly different in that you had to hit someone with the mindblade first (and you can apply Psychic Strike damage at the same time you 'mark' someone with it).

I didn't want the soulknife having to charge the mindblade every round for extra damage, they do have some minor actions they may want to use for something else every once in a while.

But I realize that it's likely that too many striker classes will eventually have extra damage abilities that all work the same. If I go with the minor action charge for the next round or opponent, then many powers might have the effect of charging the mindblade on a hit.

Throw Mindblade probably should be a basic ranged attack.

I do plan to make many powers that are based off of throw mindblade, such as targeting an area burst, targeting 3 enemies, immobilizing an enemy and inflicting 5 ongoing damage (save ends), teleporting to an enemy (+ followup melee attack) that you just hit with a thrown mindblade and more.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I've decided that it's better off to have psychic strike as charge - inflict extra damage - charge again, since it gives soulknives something that's unique from rangers and warlocks.

I also decided to go with the paths. Though right now they're a little too similar to Rogue Tactics.

 

[Nymrohd]

I use these for my psychic strike and mindblade augments atm:

Psychic Strike
Once per round, as a minor action, you can imbue your mindblade with destructive psychic energy. Your next succesful attack against an enemy deals extra psychic damage. As you advance in level, your extra damage increases.

Level

Psychic Strike Damage​

1st-10th

+1d8​

11th-20th

+2d8​

21st-30th

+3d8​

Augment Mind Blade

Soulknife Feature​

You focus your will on your mind blade and it materializes with powerful properties.
Daily ♦ Psionic, Weapon
Short Rest
Personal
Effect: Choose one magic weapon with an item level equal to your character level +3 or lower. Your mindblade functions as a magic weapon of that type as long as it is of a weapon type that can be enchanted with that particular set of qualities. Otherwise your mindblade functions as a magic weapon of equal level or lower.