(Sub) Design & Development - Psionics

[Mouseferatu]

The soulknife seems like a poor fit for an official WotC class. The central shtick - that you can create your primary weapon out of your thoughts - conflicts with the design conceit of being able to use the cool loot that you find.

They managed it with the monk's unarmed attacks. I can see several ways to manage it with the soulknife as well, whether it's a class, a built, a PP, or whatever.

 

[Hawke]

They managed it with the monk's unarmed attacks. I can see several ways to manage it with the soulknife as well, whether it's a class, a built, a PP, or whatever.

Agreed...

I wonder about extending the concept beyond a blade - what if the entire schtick of the class is that it is able to create everything it needs (armor, weapons, cloaks, bracers, boots....) with its mind. Okay, maybe not everything... but weapons and armor? Utilize the power points combined with some pretty unique at-wills to shift around your armor & weapons. Sort of like a summoner except "summoning" your personal weapons and armor?

 

[Rechan]

That would raise the question of item properties/powers/bonuses/etc.

 

[TheWyrd]

Creating "everything" in equipment starts to take you down the Incarnum road which probably wouldn't be too horrible but if not done right could get Schticky.

Personally, I think the trick to getting the Soulknife to work correctly wtih the 4E 'Kewl Lootz' idea just make sure that the Soulknife (or whatever main class it is) is an implement based class. Set the implement to something that doesn't require it to be held in your hands. 3E had 3rd Eyes and Crowns that would fit this nicely.

An alternative way to do it would be to make the Soul Knife a class feature that can be used as a basic attack. In the end though, I expect it to be a Psychic warrior at will implement power that can be augmented.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

They managed it with the monk's unarmed attacks. I can see several ways to manage it with the soulknife as well, whether it's a class, a built, a PP, or whatever.

The one that pops to mind for me is that you need to wield and study the weapon and understand how it works, feels, etc. this ingrains it in your mind and from that can generate mindblade replication of it.

As for how it would come back, my personal preference would be that is is a Feat (Feat Tree) for any Psionic Class. It would allow you to generate mindblades, with maybe special properties with more feats or some such (using the above mentioned method, the weapons allowed would be whatever you are trained in). It would also be usable as a Implement for Psionic Disciplines.

 

[Cadfan]

The problem with making a soulblade a thematic property of a handful of powers is that it splits the class. If you end up taking a few powers that are NOT soulblade powers, you'll need to carry a weapon. If you're carrying a weapon anyway, the biggest draw of having a soulblade is negated. Plus the class risks getting split in its focus, as you'll want the best weapon possible for your weapon attacks, and then the best whatever for the soulblade attacks.

Making the soulblade into a paragon path would work, though. Just make one of the level 11 features mimic the text from the monk's unarmed strike, but themed for a soulblade.

And of course the other possibility is that the soulblade is dead, and never coming back. Not everything has to become a 4e option.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I had some work done on a homebrew soul knife, and I found a great way to do it...

Implement/rituel...

soul shards (mind shards cause I called it a mind knife)

you have a rituel (like beast master gets raise compainon) that allows you to break down a weapon into componint then abosorbe them...you can have as many as you like of soul (mind) shards, but are limited to two +1 per tier abosorbed at one time...

1-10 3
11-20 4
21-30 5

The mind blade can look like any weapon, but always had +2 prof, and does Base damage 1d6 at heroic, 1d8 at paragon and 2d4 at epic...Minor action to form the mind blade, and choose one shard to duplicate.

example: I have a +1 Luck blade, a +3 magic, and a +2 duilist weapon as my crytals at 9th level...I could minor make any one of them, or minor to switch witch one was active.

They also had a class feature that added cha mod to damage with the mind blade as psycic damage...

I had a heroic feat to up the damage...so 1d8/1d10/2d6
I had a paragon feat to allow you to amalgam shards...
example: I have a +1 Luck blade, a +3 magic, and a +2 duilist weapon as my crytals at 9th level...I could minor make a +3 Luck blade or a +3 magic, or a +3 duilst...
I had a paragon feat that made it high crit
I had an epic feat that made it a free action to draw/change it
I had an epic feat that let you add the number of shard you had merged to damage with the blade


One of the at wills I desinge was more or less a basic attack...

weapon
Str Vs AC
special: if you are useing a mind blade it is instead Str Vs Will
1W+ str mod
up to 2w at 21st
this counts as a melee basic attack

at 1st, 15th and 25th I had dailys that had effects that augmented the blade for the rest of the encounter...like 1st was add 1d4 psu damage till end of encounter...15th was crit on 18+ till end of encounter and 25th was become brutal 1 till end of encounter...


(((((Down side...it was very mad as a striker. I had melee attack based on Str, Range (throw mind blade) off Dex, and Cha secondary. Everyone that saw the class felt that was the wrong way to go with it...Also by makeing all the attacks weapon attacks with a benfit/bonus if it was a soul/mind blade many thought it wa a trap choice)))))))


If I ever went back to it, I know I would fix alot, b ut the main thought runing through my mind is reworking for power points AND full displine powers both...could be cool

 

[Dire Bare]

What I'd really like to see, to be honest, is way to build a "soulknife" from either a psionic striker (be it monk or something else) or a psionic defender. They could each have their own soulknife powers (mechanically different, of course), and the soulknife PrC could be written to accommodate both. (Difficult, for two different roles, but not impossible.)

Perhaps "soul knife" could be a multiclass feat like other weapon feats introduced in Dragon?

 

[Mouseferatu]

Perhaps "soul knife" could be a multiclass feat like other weapon feats introduced in Dragon?

Now that's not a bad idea at all. A multiclass feat progression, followed (for those who want it) by a paragon path, might well indeed be the best 4E conversion of the concept.

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

The obvious way to do souldknife would be to make it an implement power. And to make the class implement a wand. Soul Knives would be projected from the end of the wand, which would then be like the hilt of a sword. And they'd also make a sort of buzzing-whooshing sound when swung around.