The Incarnum Magic System is Neat but Remarkably Derivative

[Storyteller01]

So your pulling a 'Shaman King'?

 

[WizarDru]

So your pulling a 'Shaman King'?

No, you're not...which is why Laman commented. Incarnum is identified as the power-stuff of souls both born, dead and yet-to-be-born....but you don't actually grab souls and make them guardians or anything of that nature. Which isn't to say that such a thing couldn't be modelled in using the Incarnum system. For all intents and purposes, Shaman King could be done EXACTLY with Incarnum, with the exception of the memorization requirements to create the Incarnum to begin with. Othewise, the elements are the same: characters can use the power of souls to enchant their totem items with magic powers, and they grow more powerful as the user does. They also use their connection with soul power to enhance their own personal abilities, again something that is easily molded with essentia.

Which isn't to say it's a one-to-one conversion, of course, any more than Gandalf would make sense in D&D.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

The classes in Magic of Incarnum do not directly manipulate souls. They tap the energy generated by souls and use that. Please don't give people the wrong idea about this book. It should work real good for my 'India' setting. Tapping the Akashic Records to power their magic.

I wasn't sure exactly about this point as it confused me a bit. Yes, it seems that they wanted to make the energy completely neutral and figured some people might have a moral objection to actually manipulating souls. So instead, you create a sort of magical recepticle that hold energy from souls and takes on some of its traits. But, the difference in fluff is nearly inconsequential. At least, to me. *grin*

But, in some places it looks like the concept works the other way(so it confuses me). The items are called "soul melds" as in, melding souls to your body. Then powering them with essentia (the energy of souls). I'd have to reread the sections to be sure there was a real statement that you didn't manipulate souls at all. I gathered it was more a matter of "you use souls of dead creatures or ones who aren't even born yet and they go back into the 'pool' when you unshape them. so no big deal.

 

[WizarDru]

But, in some places it looks like the concept works the other way(so it confuses me). The items are called "soul melds" as in, melding souls to your body. Then powering them with essentia (the energy of souls). I'd have to reread the sections to be sure there was a real statement that you didn't manipulate souls at all. I gathered it was more a matter of "you use souls of dead creatures or ones who aren't even born yet and they go back into the 'pool' when you unshape them. so no big deal.

IDHTBIFOM, but iirc, essentia isn't really the energy of souls, it's your access to them. You have a personal essential pool, and that pool is how strongly you can draw upon the power of Incarnum. So if I'm a duskling with no Incarnum classes, I still have an essentia pool of 1 and a racial ability to use it, if nothing else. I choose to keep that point on my racial ability, giving me an extra 5' of movement. This is the part where Incarnum directly resembles the use of the Force. The user draws upon that source and is in constant contact with it. He doesn't consume it, but accesses it, just like a Jedi. Soulmelds are supposedly drawn from the power of souls, and perhaps even from specific ones with resembling traits to the powers you want (although that's more of a totemist flavor issue) and are given temporary physical form...but they keep it intentionally vague. That's probably one reason why they give so many outs to the energy...it allows characters of all alignments to access them, not just evil or amoral characters.