Psionic Classes

SOULKNIFE

A soulknife recognizes his own mind as the most beautiful - and the most deadly - thing in all creation. With this understanding and through extended practice, a soulknife learns to forge his mental strength into a shimmering blade of semisolid psychic energy. Each soulknife's personal blade, referred to as a mind blade, differs in color and shape according to his personality, mental strength, and even mood. Although no two mind blades look alike, all share the same lethal qualities. Because soulknives turn the power of their minds to such weaponry, they are notorious for their violence. While caution and forethought go into a soulknife's preparation for adventure, most have a hard time restraining their natural bravado and showmanship. After all, how many adventurers can dispatch opponents with a blade materialized from pure thought? Thus, for many soulknives, adventuring presents an opportunity to do what they love most: Wield the idealized blade wrought of their innermost desires. More than any other psionic class, the soulknife fights with psionic power directly in both melee and ranged combat. Strength, combat prowess, and psionic talent allow the soulknife to claim equal footing - at least - with any other combat-oriented class on the field of battle. Despite their inborn showmanship, soulknives are often lawful, utilizing a disciplined mindset to idealize and materialize their mind blades. Chaoticaligned soulknives rely on strength of spirit instead of rigid discipline to materialize their mind blades. Characters who are neutral with respect to law and chaos rarely become soulknives. Soulknives who prefer to worship sometimes choose deities such as St. Cuthbert (deity of retribution) or Heironeous (deity of valor). Evil soulknives often follow Erythnul, delighting in their ability to slaughter with the power of their minds. Many who have the ability and desire to mix the manifestation of psionic power with military might become psychic warriors, but for those with the right mix of talent and skill, the way of the soulknife is more alluring. Soulknives are trained for the most part by older, more experienced soulknives. The inborn gift for psionics is unpredictable, and it can show up in any of the common races. Of the races with a penchant for psionic ability, xephs seem especially likely to end up as soulknives. Among all other creatures, virtually no opportunity for soulknife training is available. Soulknives are most comfortable with those who have similarly aggressive bents, such as monks, fighters, and paladins. They are less comfortable with psychic warriors (perhaps due to a feeling of competition), spellcasters, psions, and wilders, though a soulknife can discipline himself to manage most any relationship.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Die: d10.

Class Skills

The soulknife's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) × 4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All the following are class features of the soulknife.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Soulknives are proficient with all simple weapons, with their own mind blades, and with light armor and shields (except tower shields).

Mind Blade (Su): As a move action, a soulknife can create a semisolid blade composed of psychic energy distilled from his own mind. The blade is identical in all ways (except visually) to a short sword of a size appropriate for its wielder. For instance, a Medium soulknife materializes a Medium mind blade that he can wield as a light weapon, and the blade deals 1d6 points of damage (crit 19-20/x2). Soulknives who are smaller or larger than Medium create mind blades identical to short swords appropriate for their size, with a corresponding change to the blade's damage. The wielder of a mind blade gains the usual benefits to his attack roll and damage roll from a high Strength bonus.

The blade can be broken (it has hardness 10 and 10 hit points); however, a soulknife can simply create another on his next move action. The moment he relinquishes his grip on his blade, it dissipates (unless he intends to throw it; see below). A mind blade is considered a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

A soulknife can use feats such as Power Attack or Combat Expertise in conjunction with the mind blade just as if it were a normal weapon. He can also choose mind blade for feats requiring a specific weapon choice, such as Weapon Specialization. Powers or spells that upgrade weapons can be used on a mind blade.

A soulknife's mind blade improves as the character gains higher levels. At 4th level and every four levels thereafter, the mind blade gains a cumulative +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls (+2 at 8th level, +3 at 12th level, +4 at 16th level, and +5 at 20th level).

Even in places where psionic effects do not normally function (such as within a null psionics field), a soulknife can attempt to sustain his mind blade by making a DC 20 Will save. On a successful save, the soulknife maintains his mind blade for a number of rounds equal to his class level before he needs to check again. On an unsuccessful attempt, the mind blade vanishes. As a move action on his turn, the soulknife can attempt a new Will save to rematerialize his mind blade while he remains within the psionics negating effect.

Weapon Focus (Mind Blade): A soulknife gains Weapon Focus (mind blade) as a bonus feat.

Wild Talent: A soulknife gains Wild Talent as a bonus feat. (This class feature provides the character with the psionic power he needs to materialize his mind blade, if he has no power points otherwise.)

Throw Mind Blade (Ex): A soul knife of 2nd level or higher can throw his mind blade as a ranged weapon with a range increment of 30 feet.

Whether or not the attack hits, a thrown mind blade then dissipates. A soulknife of 3rd level or higher can make a psychic strike (see below) with a thrown mind blade and can use the blade in conjunction with other special abilities (such as Knife to the Soul; see below).

Psychic Strike (Su): As a move action, a soulknife of 3rd level or higher can imbue his mind blade with destructive psychic energy. This effect deals an extra 1d8 points of damage to the next living, nonmindless target he successfully hits with a melee attack (or ranged attack, if he is using the throw mind blade ability). Creatures immune to mind-affecting effects are immune to psychic strike damage. (Unlike the rogue's sneak attack, the psychic strike is not precision damage and can affect creatures otherwise immune to extra damage from critical hits or more than 30 feet away, provided they are living, nonmindless creatures not immune to mind-affecting effects.)

A mind blade deals this extra damage only once when this ability is called upon, but a soulknife can imbue his mind blade with psychic energy again by taking another move action.

Once a soulknife has prepared his blade for a psychic strike, it holds the extra energy until it is used. Even if the soulknife drops the mind blade (or it otherwise dissipates, such as when it is thrown and misses), it is still imbued with psychic energy when the soulknife next materializes it.

At every four levels beyond 3rd (7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th), the extra damage from a soulknife's psychic strike increases as shown on the Table above.

Free Draw (Su): At 5th level, a soulknife becomes able to materialize his mind blade as a free action instead of a move action. He can make only one attempt to materialize the mind blade per round, however.

Shape Mind Blade (Su): At 5th level, a soulknife gains the ability to change the form of his mind blade. As a fullround action, he can change his mind blade to replicate a longsword (damage 1d8 for a Medium weapon wielded as a one-handed weapon) or a bastard sword (damage 1d10 for a Medium weapon, but he must wield it as a two-handed weapon unless he knows the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) feat). If a soulknife shapes his mind blade into the form of a bastard sword and wields it two-handed, he adds 1-1/2 times his Strength bonus to his damage rolls, just like when using any other two-handed weapon.

Alternatively, a soulknife can split his mind blade into two identical short swords, suitable for fighting with a weapon in each hand. (The normal penalties for fighting with two weapons apply.) However, both mind blades have an enhancement bonus 1 lower than the soulknife would otherwise create with a single mind blade.

Mind Blade Enhancement (Su): At 6th level, a soulknife gains the ability to enhance his mind blade. He can add any one of the weapon special abilities on the table below that has an enhancement bonus value of +1.

At every four levels beyond 6th (10th, 14th, and 18th), the value of the enhancement a soulknife can add to his weapon improves to +2, +3, and +4, respectively. A soulknife can choose any combination of weapon special abilities that does not exceed the total allowed by the soulknife's level.

The weapon ability or abilities remain the same every time the soulknife materializes his mind blade (unless he decides to reassign its abilities; see below). The ability or abilities apply to any form the mind blade takes, including the use of the shape mind blade or bladewind class abilities.

A soulknife can reassign the ability or abilities he has added to his mind blade. To do so, he must first spend 8 hours in concentration. After that period, the mind blade materializes with the new ability or abilities selected by the soulknife.

Speed of Thought: A soulknife gains Speed of Thought as a bonus feat at 6th level.

Bladewind (Su): At 9th level, a soulknife gains the ability to momentarily fragment his mind blade into numerous identical blades, each of which strikes at a nearby opponent.

As a full attack, when wielding his mind blade, a soulknife can give up his regular attacks and instead fragment his mind blade to make one melee attack at his full base attack bonus against each opponent within reach. Each fragment functions identically to the soulknife's regular mind blade.

When using bladewind, a soulknife forfeits any bonus or extra attacks granted by other feats or abilities (such as the Cleave feat or the haste spell).
The mind blade immediately reverts to its previous form after the bladewind attack.

Greater Weapon Focus (Mind Blade): A soulknife gains Greater Weapon Focus (mind blade) as a bonus feat at 9th level.

Knife to the Soul (Su): Beginning at 13th level, when a soulknife executes a psychic strike, he can choose to substitute Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma damage (his choice) for extra dice of damage. For each die of extra damage he gives up, he deals 1 point of damage to the ability score he chooses. A soulknife can combine extra dice of damage and ability damage in any combination.

The soulknife decides which ability score his psychic strike damages and the division of ability damage and extra dice of damage when he imbues his mind blade with the psychic strike energy.

Multiple Throw (Ex): At 17th level and higher, a soulknife can throw a number of mind blades per round equal to the number of melee attacks he could make.

SOULKNIFE VARIANTS

Bonus Feats

You sacrifice power for skill and technique.

Level: 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th.

Replaces: You lose all psychic strike class abilities at the above levels.

Benefit: In place of the psychic strike class ability, you gain a bonus feat at each level above. You may choose any feat designed for soulknives (such as those in Complete Psionic) or any feat that your mind blade can benefit from, such as Power Attack or Improved Critical (also see the mind blade feats in Dragon Magazine #341 in the "Class Acts: Adventurer" article). You must meet any prerequisites for the feat you choose.

Hidden Talent

Your psionic talent is strong enough to manifest a single power.

Level: 1st.

Replaces: Wild Talent class ability.

Benefit: You gain the Hidden Talent feat instead of the Wild Talent feat at 1st level. You gain 2 psionic power points, can now learn any psionic feat for which you meet the prerequisites, can expend your psionic focus, and can gain a single 1st-level power from any list.

Special: Normally the Hidden Talent feat can be taken only once at 1st level, but a soulknife with this class ability can take this feat multiple times, each time gaining an additional 2 psionic power points and another 1st-level power.

The most common powers chosen with this class ability are force screen and inertial armor since they fit the theme of a soulknife, but many choose other powers.

Kalashtar Soulknife

Where the paladin is the champion of the church, the kalashtar soulknife is champion of the light - the sacred warrior of the kalashtar. Drawing on the power of il-Yannah and his own quori heritage, the kalashtar soulknife charges himself with cleansing energy and is able to ravage evil foes or even banish quori spirits and malign mental influences with a stroke of his blade.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

To take a kalashtar soulknife substitution level, a character must be a good-aligned kalashtar about to take his 1st, 3rd, or 6th level of soulknife. A kalashtar soulknife who ceases to be good or who willfully commits an evil act loses all kalashtar soulknife substitution features, and may not gain any additional kalashtar soulknife substitution levels. He regains his abilities and advancement potential if he atones for his violations as appropriate (see the atonement spell).

Class Skills

Kalashtar soulknife substitution levels have the class skills of the standard soulknife class, plus Disguise, Knowledge (the planes), and Perform.

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier (or four times this number as a beginning character).

Table: Kalashtar Soulknife Racial Substitution Levels

Class Features

All the following are features of the kalashtar soulknife's racial substitution levels.

Align Mind Blade (Su): A kalashtar soulknife can spend 1 power point as a free action to imbue his mind blade with a good alignment for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. This effect lasts for 1 round. When the kalashtar soulknife gains the ability to enhance his mind blade with weapon special abilities with a +2 bonus base price modifier (10th level), he adds the holy special ability to the list of those he can apply.

This substitution feature replaces the standard soulknife's free Wild Talent feat. Since all kalashtar gain power points for free, the character does not need this feat to materialize his mind blade.

Purifying Strike (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, a kalashtar soulknife can use the essence of his quori soul to drive out malign forces manipulating the minds of others. The soulknife must first make a successful touch attack against a target creature. He then spends 3 power points in order to make a dispel check (using his soulknife level as his caster level) against each mind-affecting spell or ability influencing the target (though he can't choose to ignore some effects and dispel others). If his dispel check succeeds, the effect is dispelled (as by dispel magic). Effects that are immune to dispelling can't be affected (except as noted below).

The purifying strike is also treated as a dismissal spell for the purpose of exorcising a quori spirit inhabiting a target creature. The save DC for this effect is 10 + the soulknife's class level + the soulknife's Cha modifier - the target's HD.

This substitution feature replaces the standard soulknife's psychic strike ability. A kalashtar soulknife instead gains that ability at 7th level, and the extra damage dealt is reduced by 1d8 from the value given on Table: The Soulknife.

Stand Fast (Ex): Beginning at 6th level, a kalashtar soulknife gains a +2 dodge bonus to his AC during any round in which he moves no more than 5 feet. This bonus only applies as long as the soulknife is psionically focused.

This substitution feature replaces the Speed of Thought bonus feat gained by the standard soulknife.

Shadow Soulknife

The sword and bow have always been important to the umbragen; their ancestors were accomplished archers long before they fled to the depths of Khyber. The shadow soulknife studies the art of blade and bow, and learns to forge deadly weapons from the pure essence of shadow. This is a purely magical effect, and the shadow soulknife must concentrate to, maintain his weapon while in an antimagic field, just as a normal soulknife is affected by an antipsionic field. The psychic strike remains unaffected by this; it is still a mind-affecting effect, blasting the spirit of the victim with the pure horror that lies within the Umbra.

The shadow soulknives are the eyes of the umbragen. For generations they have patrolled the deep caverns and during surface operations the soulknives spy on enemy troops and locate mission objectives. As result, many shadow soulknives also acquire ranger levels, merging the deadly weaponry of the soulknife with the reconnaissance skills of the ranger.

Shadow soulknife is a racial substitution level, providing options that many umbragen take in lieu of the normal abilities of the class. A shadow soulknife can choose up to three racial substitution levels: one at 1st level, one at 6th level, and the last at 9th level.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

To take a shadow soulknife substitution level, must be an umbragen about to take his 1st, 6th, or 9th level in the soulknife class.

Class Skills

Shadow soulknife substitution levels grant the class skills of the base soulknife class, plus Knowledge (dungeoneering) and Survival (Wis). Replace Knowledge (psionics) with Knowledge (arcana).

Skill Points per Level: 4 + Int modifier(or four times this number as a beginning character).

Table: Shadow Soulknife Racial Substitution Levels

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the shadow soulknife's racial substitution levels.

Stealthy: A shadow soulknife gains Stealthy as a bonus feat. This reflects a minor ability to draw on the Umbra to create a minor cloak of clinging shadows and quiet brooding.

This substitution feature replaces the standard soulknife's free Wild Talent feat.

Shadow Bow (Su): At 6th level, a shadow soulknife expands his ability to reshape his mind blade. As a full found action, he can change his mind blade to replicate a shortbow (damage 1d6, 60 ft.-range increment). The bow maintains the enhancement bonus and abilities possessed by the previous form of the mind blade; however, the soulknife cannot channel his psychic strike through his bow. When making attacks with the shadow bow, the soulknife forms arrows out of pure umbral energy. This is an automatic action that requires no effort on the part of the character, but the shadow soulknife can only form two arrows per round. As a result, a character with multiple attacks might not be able to make a full attack using the bow. The soulknife cannot fire normal arrows using the shadow bow, and weapon feats based on the mind blade - such as Weapon Focus or Improved Critical - do not transfer to the shadow bow. The soulknife does not add his strength bonus to the damage he inflicts with the shadow bow.

This substitution feature replaces the Speed of Thought bonus feat gained by the standard soulknife.

Improved Shadow Bow (Su): At 9th level a shadow soulknife gains an improved ability to manifest the shadow bow. He can choose to have the bow replicate a composite shortbow (damage 1d6, 70 ft.-range increment) or composite longbow (damage 1d8, 110 ft.-range increment). The shadow bow replicates a composite bow matched to the strength of the soulknife, allowing him to add his Strength modifier to the damage that he inflicts. He may produce up to three arrows each round when making a full attack. In addition, he may use his psychic strike with a ranged attack. However, the damage of the psychic strike is reduced by one die - so a 9th level soulknife could only add 1d8 to a ranged attack using a psychic strike. The soulknife cannot use the knife to the soul ability in conjunction with the shadow bow.

This substitution feature replaces the bladewind class feature gained by the standard soulknife.