All about soulknives [House + Feats]

[Peregrine]

House rule:
At 2nd level and every three levels thereafter, a soulknife gains a bonus feat. This feat must be drawn from the following list, or from feats specifically designated as soulknife bonus feats. The character must meet all prerequisites for the feats normally. Eight new soulknife feats are given below.

Existing feats on the soulknife bonus feat list:
Acrobatic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#acrobatic), Aligned Attack (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#alignedAttack), Armor Proficiency (Medium) (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#armorProficiencyMedium), Athletic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#athletic), Combat Reflexes (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#combatReflexes), Ghost Attack (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#ghostAttack), Mental Leap (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#mentalLeap), Narrow Mind (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#narrowMind), Open Minded (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#openMinded), Psionic Body (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#psionicBody), Psionic Charge (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#psionicCharge), Psionic Meditation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#psionicMeditation), Run (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#run), Skill Focus (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#skillFocus), Up The Walls (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#upTheWalls), Wounding Attack (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#woundingAttack).

New feats:
Adamantine Mind Blade [Soulknife]
Your great mastery of materials lets you give the qualities of adamantine to your mind blade.
Prerequisite: Harden Mind Blade, Mind Blade Metallurgy, +1 mind blade class feature, Skill Focus (Knowledge [architecture and engineering]) OR Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 7 ranks.
Benefit: Your mind blade is treated as an adamantine weapon, having hardness 20, one-third more hit points than normal, and ignoring the first 20 points of hardness when striking objects. This is a permanent feature of your mind blade and does not conflict with any other qualities you apply to it, such as from the Mind Blade Metallurgy feat.

Disciplined Soul [Soulknife]
You belong to an order of soulknives who train in monastic disciplines with their unique weapons.
Prerequisite: Flurry of blows class feature, mind blade class feature
Benefit: Your mind blade is counted as a monk weapon. You can freely multiclass between the monk and soulknife classes.

Damage Flexibility [Soulknife]
You can change the qualities of your mind blade to deal other types of damage.
Prerequisite: Shape mind blade class feature
Benefit: When shaping your mind blade, you can freely change its damage type to piercing, slashing or bludgeoning. If you have the mind blade enhancement +1 class feature, add the merciful enhancement to your weapon special abilities list.
Normal: Your mind blade only deals piercing damage (if manifested as a short sword) or slashing damage (if manifested as a longsword or bastard sword).

Elemental Mind Blade [Soulknife]
Your understanding of the elements allows you to add their qualities to your mind blade.
Prerequisite: Mind blade enhancement +1 class feature, Knowledge (the planes) 5 ranks
Benefit: Add the following enhancements to your weapon special abilities list: flaming, frost, shock.

Greater Elemental Mind Blade [Soulknife]
Your superior understanding of the elements improves your ability to add their qualities to your mind blade.
Prerequisite: Elemental Mind Blade, mind blade enhancement +2 class feature, Knowledge (the planes) 7 ranks
Benefit: Add the following enhancements to your weapon special abilities list: flaming burst, icy burst, shocking burst.

Harden Mind Blade [Soulknife]
The manifested substance of your mind blade is harder than usual, making it more resistant to being broken, and better at breaking other objects.
Prerequisite: +1 mind blade class feature.
Benefit: Your mind blade gains 2 hardness and 10 hit points, as if it had an enhancement bonus 1 higher than normal. It ignores the first 5 points of hardness when striking objects.

Mind Blade Metallurgy [Soulknife]
Your knowledge of the special qualities of certain metals allows you to imitate these qualities when manifesting a mind blade.
Prerequisite: Mind blade class feature, Skill Focus (Knowledge [architecture and engineering]) OR Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5 ranks.
Benefit: Your mind blade can take on the qualities of cold iron or alchemical silver for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. You can reassign this quality as you would any mind blade enhancements, by spending 8 hours in concentration.

Shape Tools [Soulknife]
Choose a skill that requires tools to be used without penalty, such as Craft or Disable Device. You can reshape your mind blade into the form of the tools needed to use that skill.
Prerequisite: Chosen skill 1 rank, shape mind blade class feature
Benefit: You can use your shape mind blade ability to manifest a set of tools, enabling you to use your chosen skill without penalty. If you succeed on a DC 20 Intelligence check when manifesting the tools, they are manifested as a set of masterwork tools, granting a +2 circumstance bonus to the skill check.
Special: You can gain this feat more than once. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new skill.

(Needs some more low-prerequisite ideas, and I'm sure some of these feats aren't that crash-hot. But it's a start. Discuss?)

(Edit I: Put the skill ranks for Greater Elemental Mind Blade back to 7 like I originally had it, not 10, which puts it out of reach of single-classed soulknives until 17th level.)
(Edit II: Renamed Applied Metallurgy to Mind Blade Metallurgy, and switched its skill requirement to something more generic.)

[Fax Celestis]

So these are all on the bonus feat list?

[NullAshton]

I like the feats. I don't like the fact that soulknives get bonus feats though.

EDIT: The reason why I don't like soulknives getting bonus feats, is that I think they're already powerful enough. Their abilities make them a useful scout/never unable to fight character.

[Peregrine]

EDIT: The reason why I don't like soulknives getting bonus feats, is that I think they're already powerful enough. Their abilities make them a useful scout/never unable to fight character.
Where's The Logic Ninja when you need him? ::) There were a few arguments not too long ago (about the time of the Psionics Folio Contest) about how weak the soulknife is. I happen to really, really like the class and its flavour, but an item I entered in that contest was criticised for weakening soulknives further.

I came up with this idea as a way to strengthen them -- actually, I came up with the ideas for some of the feats, and then figured they don't really have that many feats to play with, so maybe bonus feats would be called for?

Yes, all [Soulknife] feats go on the bonus list. I did think about adding some more directly combat-oriented feats (since throwing and two-weapon fighting feats in particular run close to expected ways of using the mind blade), but then I decided against that (steals too much from the fighter/psychic warrior bonus feats), and played to their perceived roles instead. Scout, harasser, lesser skill-based class (as in they're not exactly a skill monkey, but their mobility skills are very handy for supporting their scout/harasser roles). I also wanted to counter another argument about being weak, that their available mind blade enhancements don't really stack up against what other classes can get.

Oh, and another:
Double Psychic Strike [Soulknife]
Both your mind blades are charged with psychic energy at the same time.
Prerequisites: Psychic strike class feature, shape mind blade class feature, Two-Weapon Fighting
Benefit: When fighting with two mind blades, you can deal psychic strike damage from both blades if you hit with both in the same round. If you hit with only one, you deal a normal psychic strike and the energy on the other dissipates.

PS You can of course use the feats and not the house rule. It'll just be harder for a soulknife to take them at useful times.

[Peregrine]

And, here's the feats available at lower levels that I said it needed:

Blurring Mind Blade [Psionic, Soulknife]
You know how to move your mind blade quickly enough to cause its semisolid outline to blur and distract opponents.
Prerequisite: Mind blade class feature
Benefit: While you are psionically focused and have your mind blade manifested, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Tumble checks made to avoid attacks of opportunity, and to Bluff checks made to feint. These bonuses are not effective against sightless creatures.

Glowing Mind Blade [Soulknife]
You can cause your mind blade to glow brightly.
Prerequisite: Mind blade class feature
Benefit: You can make a manifested mind blade shed as much light as a torch. Activating this ability, or dimming it, is a free action.

Project Mind Blade [Soulknife]
You can 'project' your mind blade short distances instead of throwing it. This takes less attention away from your immediate area.
Prerequisite: Throw mind blade class feature
Benefit: When throwing your mind blade no further than 10ft, you project it instead. Visually, this looks as though the mind blade extends instead of leaving your hand, although it still requires a move action to recover (or a free action with the free draw class feature), and you can use the multiple throw class feature normally. Projecting your mind blade does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and can be used to make one, as if you threatened squares 10ft away.

Revealing Glow [Soulknife]
The light of your mind blade reveals invisible things.
Prerequisite: Glowing Mind Blade, +1 mind blade class feature
Benefit: Any invisible or ethereal objects or beings within the light radius of your mind blade are visible to you, as the see invisibility spell.

Soulknife Fencer [Soulknife]
You have studied the art of rapier combat, and your mind blade shows a more slender, elegant form as a result.
Prerequisites: Martial Weapon Proficiency (rapier), mind blade class feature
Benefit: The default form of your mind blade is identical in all ways (except visually) to a rapier of a size appropriate for you; that is, it can be wielded as a one-handed weapon that deals 1d6 piercing damage for a Medium character (crit 18-20/x2), and can benefit from the Weapon Finesse feat.
Special: If you have or gain the shape mind blade class feature, you can also manifest a short sword as normal. When manifesting two mind blades, you can choose to manifest one as a rapier and one as a short sword. (You can manifest both as rapiers, but note that this will incur additional penalties for using two one-handed weapons.)

Veiling Glow [Psionic, Soulknife]
Sweeping your mind blade through the air in intricate arcs, you obscure yourself behind a blurring wall of light.
Prerequisites: Blurring Mind Blade, Glowing Mind Blade, mind blade class feature
Benefits: If you are psionically focused and have your mind blade manifested and glowing, you can take a standard action to grant yourself concealment until your next turn.

(Edit I: Fixed a couple of oversights.)

[NullAshton]

There's also some psionic feats that allow you to shape mindblades in Complete Psionic. Though a homemade one is good too.

I still don't think soulknive is weak. I just don't think people are looking at it right.

[The_Logic_Ninja]

Soulknife is weak. Why? Because it can't do anything. It can't melee well (medium BAB, lack of damage output or battlefield control, +5/+5 properties weapon inferior to a +1/+9 properties weapon with better properties), it can't skillmonkey, it certainly can't spellcast. "Scout" isn't a role, it's a subset of the skillmonkey role.

[NullAshton]

Rogues can melee just fine. In fact, a strength-based power attacking rogue build might not actually be half-bad.

[Bob_the_Mighty]

Rogues can melee just fine. In fact, a strength-based power attacking rogue build might not actually be half-bad.Actually, they can't. In my experience, they get one shot. If they don't win Initiative, they really can't do much in Melee.

As for feats, they're just awesome.

[Peregrine]

As for feats, they're just awesome.
Thanks! At least, I think you mean 'the feats above are awesome', rather than 'feats in general are awesome', or perhaps 'feats are awesome, so adding bonus feats to the soulknife makes it (too) awesome'. ;)

I've seen full BAB as another suggestion for strengthening the soulknife, making it a real front-liner. The biggest problem I see with that is needing to reallocate class features: multiple throw is pretty poor for a 17th-level ability if you've had three melee attacks since 11th level, but it's not so bad now (when you only got three attacks at 15th level).

My feats don't fix TLN's criticism of the soulknife not being good at anything, but they do make it better at what it already does (fast, mobile, okay at melee, and can do its stuff in any circumstances). I feel confident I'm not making it overpowered as a result; I know some of the feats are pretty weak, but that's why the house rule gives the soulknife feats to burn on them.

[NullAshton]

Actually, they can't. In my experience, they get one shot. If they don't win Initiative, they really can't do much in Melee.

As for feats, they're just awesome.


Wrong. Flanking with the fighter is a great way, though requires you to get into melee. Feinting is great, yet again requires melee... the problem is that rogues tend to be fragile, and people don't want to risk melee. That's mostly it.