The Incarnum Magic System is Neat but Remarkably Derivative

[FireLance]

Fresh approach to D&D magic, yet disappointingly predictable magical effects.

It's kind of like chicken. You can boil it, roast it, stew it or deep fry it, but however you cook it, it's still chicken. Fortunately, I like chicken .

Anyway, I thought psionics was closer to the Force than incarnum. Incarnum is more like that old cartoon, the Centurions, where the heroes call up technological equipment that attaches to various parts of their bodies.

 

[Voadam]

So the complaints are that 1) while the mechanics are innovative, the flavor and effects of incarnum magic are analogous to the force in SW (which has already been done in fairly compatible d20SW but not in straight D&D?), and (2) this supplement about new magic adds more magic options to the game.

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

Nope, that's globe of invulnerability.

Ah! So a Prismatic Sphere is an onion? And like ogres, onions.... (Stink?) Yes. No. (Make you cry?) No. (Left out in the sun, they get all brown and start sprouting little white hairs?) No, they both have many layers.

But what about parfaits? Everybody likes parfaits. You ever ask someone out for some parfait and they say "Hell no, I don't like no parfait!" ? Parfaits are delicious.

What was the question again?

 

[Creeping Death]

From your description, The Incarnum Magic System, sounds more like "Full Metal Alchemist" than Jedi.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

I, personally, think the flavor is quite a bit different between The Force and Incarnum.

The Force:
You, using pure force of will and a connection to organisms in your blood stream, you reach out and command an energy field created by life. You can use it to lift things, throw them, fine control over your body(mostly by moving yourself around) and it will give you information about the area around you.

Incarnum:
You use some energy (likely magic) to bind the souls of those dead, living, and unborn into physical form so that you can use part of the souls nature as your own. You can use the eagle's sense of sight, the bear's strength, the cheetah's speed, etc. You then invest some of your own inner strength to "power" the souls you bind.

I'm not sure but both mechanically and flavor wise, they seem different.

 

[Truth Seeker]

From your description, The Incarnum Magic System, sounds more like "Full Metal Alchemist" than Jedi.

Interesting...but no, unless you are State qualified.

 

[Von Ether]

I should clarify--the rules mechanics for incarnum magic are entirely new (although still somewhat Vancian in execution). I am simply suggesting that, from my reading, the effects of incarnum classes wielding soulmelds seem remarkably similar to Jedi wielding the Force.

And yes, the extreme proliferation of magic in D&D is getting a bit silly. That's one reason why I'm looking forward to Hjorimir's Ethâra campaign--we're going back to magic as rare, mysterious, and special, as opposed to mundane, assumed, and commonplace like it is in 3E.

A guy named "Force User" who sees a Jedi connection ... who'd a thunk?

I'm confused about this "proliferation" of magic in DnD. Are you talking about in the core books or that we now have four varities of supernatural powers?

1.) Using NPC classes and monsters pretty much means most magic items are "relics" found in ruins and that mostly PCs and villian NPCs will only have them. Outside that, most mundane people in DnD won't have magic items at all.

It may be that you're thinking that since your PCs have the weapons and some of your opponents do that means they are "common." If you're a movie superstar who jetsets around the world everyday and hangs out at country clubs and exculsive resorts, then $50,000 sports cars and $2,000 Rolex watches are common everyday items. ... Hey, let me lend you mine.

The setting where the common man enjoys the benefits of magic is Eberron ususally.

2.) Alternative settings:
In my neck of the woods, buying the XPHB or Incana is a waste of money.

The local GMs don't want to learn a new power system, so getting the books means psionics or Incarna will only show up in a game I'll run. If I play, I'll never see it or get use it.

I take that back, there may be the off chance a GM will decide to give his campaign a "special flavor" by simply replacing magic with either psionics or Incarna, but then again that will be only one system of supernatural powers in a game and they'll be different since healing and direct damage spells will be weak.

Unless a GM caves in to his players, he's got only as much magic as he wants. As a side note, there are only two settings with psionics, Dark Sun and Eberron. And with Eberron, you could run a whole game and not see psionics at all.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

Centurians, now thats a flash back...


It is an interesting system, but it does nothing that could not be duplicated with spells from a standard casting class. UA has more original ideas for spell casting by far. It does have one distinct advantage, however. The "spells" scale with your level, not your caster level. The higher the level you have in any of the Incarnum wielding classes grants you more melds and essentia to fuel them, but the ammount of essentia that can be placed in them is based on total level. The number of melds you can have is also CON based. A fighter/incarnum wielder multiclass would be more viable than a fighter/wizard in many cases.

 

[Gez]

Their powers are tactical, fresh, varied, well-designed, and disappointingly predictable.

Isn't this self-contradictory?

 

[ForceUser]

Isn't this self-contradictory?

Heh. I refer you to post #20, where I respond to Umbran's exact same question.

And man, if it weren't for my post count I'd ditch the handle ForceUser and get a new user name. It's actually been years since I've had much interest in Star Wars.

2001: SWd20 RPG comes out. Yay! I buy it, run a game for my friends, we all realize it's a hunk of crap and we never play it again. Before this occurs, though, I make an account on ENWorld.

2004: Star Wars is long-forgotten. Lucas has burned any interest in the series out of my skull with his awful, awful prequel movies.

2005: Continually reminded of my lame username by posters who assume I'm still a Star Wars fan, I begin to seriously wish I could change it without losing my postcount.