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View Full Version : Irregular Soulmelds [Like the Totemist, but with Aberrations, WIP]



Xallace
2013-05-01, 09:29 PM
As much as you might not want to believe it, aberrations have souls too. And as much as meldshapers avoid talking about it, there are those mad, mad incarnates who have dug through the oversoul to its shadowy corners, the dust under its rug, where none were meant to see.

Those incarnates are the Irregulars.

The idea behind this bit of homebrew is an attempt to nudge a little body-horror into D&D, and have fun with a system that I don't use much (that is, incarnum).

The soulmelds list is still quite in progress - there are a lot of cool aberrations to turn into fashion statements.


Things The Soul Was Not Meant To Meld

Irregular soulmelds are... irregular. They don't act quite like other soulmelds. That's just a function of the souls being used to shape them - the weird, the aberrant, the things that just didn't fit in anywhere else in creation. Oh, they follow all the normal rules for soulmelds, most certainly. Anyone with a basic knowledge of how meldshaping works could tell that these are most definitely soulmelds, given a little analysis.

The largest difference lies in the physical manifestation of irregular soulmelds. There's no glowing, blue fashion disaster going on here. No, these soulmelds go directly for the meldshaper's body, using aberrant soul energy to directly warp flesh into the necessary shapes... and they only get worse with chakra binds. You don't hide an irregular soulmeld.

Then there's the matter of the "Far" chakra. Those who have dared to start binding irregular soulmelds make mention of an additional chakra beyond the others, one distant on the spiritual scale - hence, Far. As much as anyone can tell, it's the chakra related to a mortal's sanity.

Which, if true, means that by the time you're binding other souls to it, it's probably too late for you.


The Irregular
Class Skills: The irregular's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Disguise (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Listen (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Hit Die: D8
Table 1:1 - The Irregular
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fortitude Save|Reflex Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+2|Bonus Feat, Unnerving Presence

2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+3|Far Chakra (Madness Shield)

3rd|
+2|
+3|
+1|
+3|Impose Soulmeld, Rapid Reshaping 1/day

4th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4|Bonus Feat

5th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4|Chakra Binds (Crown, Feet, Hands)

6th|
+4|
+5|
+2|
+5|Far Chakra (+1 Capacity)

7th|
+5|
+5|
+2|
+5

8th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+2|
+6|Bonus Feat

9th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+3|
+6|Chakra Binds (Arms, Brow, Shoulders)

10th|
+7/+2|
+7|
+3|
+7|Rapid Reshaping 2/day|

11th|
+8/+3|
+7|
+3|
+7|Far Chakra (Double Bind)

12th|
+9/+4|
+8|
+4|
+8|Bonus Feat

13th|
+9/+4|
+8|
+4|
+8

14th|
+10/+5|
+9|
+4|
+9|Chakra Binds (Throat, Waist)

15th|
+11/+6/+1|
+9|
+5|
+9|Far Chakra (+2 Capacity)

16th|
+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+10|Bonus Feat

17th|
+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+10|Chakra Bind (Heart)

18th|
+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+11|Rapid Reshaping 3/day

19th|
+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+11

20th|
+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+12|Bonus Feat, Mad Incarnation[/table]

Table 1:2 - Irregular Soulmelds & Essentia
{table=head]Level|Personal Soulmelds|Essentia|Chakra Binds| Symbiotic & Parasitic Soulmelds
1st|1|1|0| 0
2nd|1|2|1| 0
3rd|1|2|1| 1
4th|2|3|1 | 1
5th|2|3|1 | 1
6th|2|4|1 | 1
7th|3|5|2 | 2
8th|3|5|2 | 2
9th|3|6|2 | 2
10th|4|7|2 | 2
11th|4|8|3 | 2
12th|4|9|3 | 2
13th|5|10|3 | 2
14th|5|11|3 | 2
15th|5|12|4 | 2
16th|6|13|4 | 3
17th|6|14|4 | 3
18th|6|16|4 | 3
19th|7|18|5 | 3
20th|7|20|5| 3[/Table]


Class Features
All of the following are class features of the irregular.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: An irregular is proficient with all simple weapons, as well as natural weapons granted by his soulmelds. Irregulars are not proficient with armor or shields.

Meldshaping: An irregular’s primary ability is shaping incarnum soulmelds, which are drawn from the irregular soulmeld list. You know and can shape any soulmeld from this list.

The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an irregular soulmeld is 10 + number of points of essentia invested in the soulmeld + your Constitution modifier. Your meldshaper level is equal to your irregular level.

An irregular can shape only a certain number of soulmelds per day. Your base daily allotment is given on the chart above. The maximum number of soulmelds that you can have shaped simultaneously is equal to your Constitution score minus 10 or the number of soulmlds allowed for your level, whichever is lower. At 1st level, you can shape 1 soulmeld at a time (assuming you have a Constitution score of at least 11). As you advance in level, you can shape an increasing number of soulmelds.

Chakra Binds: Beginning at 2nd level, you can bind your soulmelds to your chakras, granting you new powers based on the soulmeld and the chakra chosen. Binding a soulmeld to a chakra closes the body slot associated with that chakra (see Chakras, page 50), so that you cannot also benefit from a magic item worn on the body slot associated with that chakra.
The number of chakra binds that you can have active at any one time depends on your level (see the Chakra Binds column on Table 1:1 - The Irregular). At 2nd level, you can bind a soulmeld to your far chakra (see below). Beginning at 5th level, you can bind soulmelds to your crown, feet, or hands chakras. At 9th level, you can bind soulmelds to your arms, brow, or shoulders chakras. At 14th level, you can bind soulmelds to your throat or waist chakras. At 17th level, you can bind a soulmeld to your heart chakra. You never gain the ability to bind a soulmeld to your soul chakra.

Bonus Feats: Irregulars gain bonus feats at 1st level, 4th level, and every four levels thereafter. These feats must be incarnum feats or aberrant feats (from Lords of Madness) for which the irregular meets the prerequisites. As a special benefit of the irregular class, each aberrant feat you take grants you one additional point of essentia.

Unnerving Presence (Su): The irregular taps into a power that should never have been touched by mortal souls. His very essence brushes against the unnatural, and it leaves its mark upon him.

The irregular’s mere presence is enough to unnerve creatures around him. Creatures of the animal type will refuse to be within 10 feet of him, and will fight their way out if they have no other option. Creatures of other types (except aberrations) are unsettled and uncomfortable around the irregular, but suffer no mechanical penalty.

In addition, the irregular may focus this presence in a gaze attack against a single target. This requires a standard action and requires that the irregular be able to see the intended victim (although the victim need not even know the irregular is there). The victim makes a Will save against (DC10 + ½ the irregular’s class level + the irregular’s Charisma modifier). Any a failure, the target is frightened for 1d3 rounds. On a success, the target is shaken for 1 round.

The irregular may use this gaze three times per day.

Upon reaching 2nd level, your maddening presence pervades you so thoroughly that creatures instinctively want to avoid you. So long as you have a soulmeld bound to your Far chakra, you gain a dodge bonus to your armor class equal to your Charisma modifier, plus the amount of incarnum invested in the soulmeld bound to your Far chakra.

Far Chakra: In all his time spent studying the darkest depths of incarnum, the irregular has stumbled upon a chakra never mentioned by his mentors nor any scholarly text. This chakra does not exist on the body, per se, but exists simultaneously in the core of the mind and somewhere... very far away. This chakra is called the Far chakra.

The irregular gains access to this chakra upon reaching 2nd level. He can bind any soulmeld he knows to this chakra, as he could any other chakra. When a soulmeld is bound to this chakra, the irregular gains a +5 bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects.

At 6th level, the essentia capacity of any soulmeld bound to your far chakra is raised by 1.

At 11th level, you can bind a single soulmeld to your far chakra and to another chakra at the same time. You gain the benefit of both chakra binds.

At 15th level, the essentia capacity of any soulmeld bound to your far chakra is raised by 1 again (for a total of 2).

Impose Soulmelds (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, the irregular can warp incarnum energy around him to grant an ally a soulmeld... or force one upon a foe. This requires a standard action and the target must be within 30 feet.

Unwilling creatures receive a Will Save (DC10 + ½ your irregular level + your Constitution modifier) to negate the effect. You can choose to unshape an imposed soulmeld at any time.

Imposed Soulmelds come in two varieties: Symbiotic soulmelds and Parasitic soulmelds.

Symbiotic soulmelds simply grant their usual benefits to the recipient. You can bind Symbiotic soulmelds to your chakras to grant the recipient the benefits of the chakra bind, as well. Symbiotic soulmelds last for 24 hours.

Parasitic soulmelds do not grant their usual benefits. Instead, a soulmeld operating as a parasite hinders the target, imposing penalties or special conditions on the victim - in addition to a horrible physical mutation. Parasitic effects are listed beneath the chakra binds in each soulmeld's description. Parasitic effects last for 1 minute.

You cannot impose upon someone a soulmeld that you already have shaped, be it on your body or another. The recipient can invest essentia into the soulmeld as if it were one of their own, but gain no ability to do so if they have no essentia to begin with. You, however, can invest essentia into a soulmeld shaped on another creature as though it were on your person.

You can only shape a certain number of imposed soulmelds at a time. The number given on Table 1:2 indicates how many of each type of imposed soulmeld the irregular can have shaped at one time. For instance, a 3rd-level irregular could have a single Symbiotic soulmeld and a single Parasitic soulmeld imposed at any given time. This pool is separate from your personal soulmelds, and imposed soulmelds do not count against them.

Rapid Reshaping (Ex): Also at 3rd level, the irregular learns to warp essentia in order to rapidly shape or unshape his soulmelds. Once per day, he may unshape a soulmeld of his choice as a swift action and immediately shape another soulmeld of his choice. If the soulmeld was bound to a chakra, he may bind the soulmeld to an open chakra as well.

The irregular may use this feature additional times per day as he gains levels, as shown on the table above. This feature can be combined with Impose Soulmeld, above, allowing the Irregular to rapidly shift your soulmelds onto or away from other targets.

Mad Incarnation (Su): At 20th level, the irregular can tap into power beyond essentia, beyond the oversoul itself. This power comes from... far, far away, filtered through the focus of the irregular’s meldshaping prowess. This can be done once per day, and requires a full-round action. It lasts for a number of rounds equal to the irregular’s Constitution modifier + 3.

Surreal, incarnate energies erupt from the irregular out to a radius of 30 feet. At the center, the irregular twitches and convulses, unable to handle the forces flowing through him. This horrific expulsion frightens any creature within 30 feet of the irregular for as long as they stay within that radius. Creatures get a Will Save (DC20 + irregular’s Charisma modifier) to resist.

More importantly, the irregular gains 10 extra essentia to spread among soulmelds as he pleases. Even more than that, the madness using him as a conduit allows him to break the usual rules of soulmelds - each round, he may shape, unshape, bind, or unbind any number of soulmelds as a swift action, although he is still limited to the number of soulmelds he may normally possess at a given time.



New Feats

Per request.

Irregular Melder
You have delved far too deep into the stranger parts of incarnum, and have come out the other side with a horrible understanding.
Prerequisites: Meldshaper Level 1st, Con 13
Benefits: You gain access to the Far chakra, and the ability to bind soulmelds to it. You also add the Irregular soulmeld list to your usual list of soulmelds.
Note: You probably shouldn't allow this feat if you allow the Irregular class.

Parasite Shaper
You have learned to warp essentia in such a way that you can now impose it upon others.
Prerequisites: Access to the Irregular soulmeld list.
Benefit: You may now impose Irregular soulmelds upon unwilling targets, which allows you to take advantage of the Parasite benefits of each soulmeld. This functions as the Impose Soulmeld class feature of the Irregular, except that you may only have 1 such soulmeld shaped at a time. If you can already impose soulmelds, or gain the ability from a separate feature later, the number of soulmelds you may impose at a time increases by 1.


Irregular Soulmelds

Aboleth Suit
Descriptors: Water
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Shoulders (Far)
Saving Throw: None

Your skin mottles and grays, losing hair and gaining a thin coating of mucus. Your eyes develop a second lid, protecting them from the water.

The horrid Aboleths: ancient, amphibious creatures whose society rises from the bottom of the sea in awful, unnatural shapes. Foul-smelling slime and powerful tentacles are the least of their victim's worries, for the aboleths possess impressive psionic talent and horrible, mutagenic properties.

The basic power of this soulmeld is deceptively simple: the meldshaper gains the ability to breath both water and air.
Essentia: Each point of essentia invested in this soulmeld grants the meldshaper a +2 bonus on Swim checks.

Chakra Bind (Shoulders)



Choker Boots
Descriptors: None
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Feet (Far)
Saving Throw: None

Incarnum forms a leathery surface over your feet and lower legs, wrapping around to the soles of your feet. As you move, you find that the world seems to slow down around you.

Chokers are subterranean aberrations that ambush prey with lightning speed. Though tiny and not particularly bright, their unnatural alacrity makes them rightly feared by those who would delve into the deep places of the world.

While you have Choker Boots shaped, your base land speed improves by 10 feet.

Essentia: Every point of essentia invested in Choker Boots improves your base land speed by an additional 5 feet.

Chakra Bind (Feet)
The leathery texture spreads to cover the entirety of your lower legs, and you can’t help but prop yourself up on your toes. The world seems so much slower than it was a moment ago.

You gain the ability to take an extra move action each round, but your mortal mind is never quite able to catch up with your alien quickness. Using the extra move action dazes you until the beginning of your next turn.

Chakra Bind (Far)
You feel a sudden, overwhelming need to climb up somewhere high and dark. Tiny spines wiggle out from your palms and the soles of your feet to help you in this mission.

While bound to your far chakra, you gain a climb speed equal to your base land speed, including the bonus from the choker boot's base effect.

Parasitic Effects
Your target feels a painful twinge in their ankles. Without warning, their legs begin sprinting on their own.

While this soulmeld is Parasitic, you can curse a target with a modified form of the choker's signature quickness. As a swift action, you may force a target to move up to their base land speed. You decide the target's destination square and path of movement, but this does not count as their movement for the round, meaning they may move on their own normally.

An unwilling target can make a Reflex Save to latch onto a nearby object and negate the movement, if one is present. If this save fails, or if no object is present, the target may choose to topple over and land prone, also negating the movement.


Cloaker Mantle
Descriptors: None (Sonic)
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Shoulders (Far)
Saving Throw: None (Will)

The skin of your shoulders, back, and arms stretch and darken until they resemble nothing so much as a heavy, leather cloak draped over your body. The disguise is perfect until you spread your arms - and the cloak is revealed to be a horrible, enveloping membrane.

Strange even by aberration standards, the cloaker is a beast resembling a manta ray. It's adaptation to mortals is its most obvious feature, as it resembles - and indeed, hunts by pretending to be - a common, leather cloak. The cloaker mantle grants a meldshaper the cloaker's enveloping wings, unnerving moan, and power of shadows.

Initially, the cloak provides a wide membrane with which to snare prey. The meldshaper gains a +2 bonus on all grapple checks.

Essentia: For each point of essentia invested in this soulmeld, the meldshaper gains an additional +2 bonus to grapple checks.

Chakra Bind (Shoulders)
The leathery membrane spreads out from your arms until it resembles the wings of a manta ray.

While bound to your shoulders chakra, the cloaker mantle grants a fly speed of 20 feet (average maneuverability). For each point of essentia invested in the cloaker mantle, this fly speed improves by 5 feet.

Chakra Bind (Far)
The leathery skin spreads up and over your head, forming a dark hood that obscures your features ever-so-slightly. While wearing this hood of your own flesh, you perceive long threads running through the shadows around you... and you know just how to pluck them.

While within a dimly lit or darker area, you can manipulate the shadows around you. You can use this ability as standard action, and it has one of three effects.

Obscuring Vision
The shadows envelop your body, granting you 20% concealment for a number of rounds equal to the amount of essentia invested in this soulmeld.

Shadow Copies
The shadows themselves form mirror images of you. This functions as the Mirror Image spell, but creates a number of copies equal to the amount of essentia invested in this soulmeld. The effect last for 5 rounds.

Shadow Illusions
You can form the shadows into any shape you desire, replicating a Silent Image spell at a caster level equal to your meldshaper level.

Parasitic Effects
A massive membrane erupts from your target's sides and arms, wrapping around them like a sheet.

Your target gains the wings of a cloaker, which immediately grapple your target with a bonus equal to your meldshaper level + the amount of essentia invested in this soulmeld. Each round, the membrane attempts to initiate a grapple and subsequently pin the target. The target may escape from the grapple as normal. Dealing 5 + your meldshaper level points of damage to the membrane with a slashing or piercing weapon tears it up enough that it can no longer attempt to grapple, remaining as bleeding folds of skin on your opponent's body.

Delver Gauntlets
Descriptors: Earth
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Arms (Far)
Saving Throw: None

A slippery coating of green slime oozes out of the pores of your hands and forearms, until you cannot touch anything without coating it in a horrible mucus.

The delver is one of the lesser-known and lesser-encountered aberrations, preferring to hide in its tunnels than confront other creatures. This soulmeld grants its shaper the delver’s unique earth-related capabilities.
While you have the Delver Gauntlets shaped, you can choose to deal 1d6 points of acid damage with a touch attack. Earthware or stone objects or creatures take 2d6 points of acid damage instead.

Essentia: Each points of essentia invested in the Delver Gauntlets increases the acid damage by 1d6 (or 2d6 against earthen or stone creatures and objects).

Chakra Bind (Arms)
The slime bubbles and smokes, pouring from your skin in great quantities. The mass quickly hardens and fuses together into many-clawed hands, perfect for digging.

While the delver gauntlets are bound to your arms chakra, you gain a burrow speed of 10 feet. This speed increases by 10 feet for each point of essentia invested in them.

Chakra Bind (Far)
Slime oozes from your eyes, coagulating over the surface and giving them an unpleasantly green sheen. When you gaze upon earth and stone, it seems to quiver in fear before you, prostrating itself - if such a thing could be said - before your magnificence.

While bound to your far chakra, you can use Stone Shape, as the spell, once per minute. The caster level of the effect is equal to 5 + the number of essentia invested in this soulmeld.

Parasitic Effects
Slime bubbles up from your victim's skin, in such great quantities that it even seeps through their clothing. With and audible hissing, earth and stone melt at their touch.

Your target deals 1d6 points of acid damage to anything they touch, and 2d6 points to any earthen or stone objects, including the ground they stand on, if applicable. They do not get a choice in dealing this damage, but you may suppress or reactivate the damage as a free action while the soulmeld is bound.

Farspawn Pauldrons
Descriptors: None
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Shoulders (Far)
Saving Throw: None

Skin stretches into oblong protrusions from your back and shoulders. The bulges grow to nearly half a foot in length before the skin tears open, allowing horrible, slimy tentacles to slither out to their full length.

It is through unknown means that half-farspawn come into being, but some things are best left unknown. What matters is that, being still partially from world of sanity, their souls exist within essentia. The Farspawn Pauldrons grant the horrid tentacles of the half-farspawn, as well as their maddening clarity.

These pauldrons grant two tentacles, which you may use during a full attack. They use your highest attack bonus and deal 1d4 + your strength modifier bludgeoning damage. They have a reach equal to your unmodified, normal reach.

Essentia: For each point of essentia invested in the pauldrons, the tentacles deal an additional 1d4 points of damage, and their reach improves by 5 feet (to a maximum of 15 feet).

Chakra Bind (Shoulders)
Two more tentacles lash out from your body, and each of them in turn feels more real, more a part of you than ever before. No longer are the tentacles a separate creature’s; you may as well be half-farspawn yourself!

Upon binding the farspawn pauldrons to your shoulders chakra, you gain an additional pair of tentacles, which follow all the rules mentioned above. In addition, you may now make a tentacle attack as a primary attack, instead of just as part of a full attack. You may use your tentacles for fine manipulation, grappling, or any other task for which you could use human hands.

Chakra Bind (Far)
Unimaginable images flash through your mind as you peek into the smallest possible fraction of the far realms’ mad insight.

You may use True Strike, as per the spell, once per day as a swift action.

Filcher Fingers
Descriptors: None
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Waist (Far)
Saving Throw: None

A second set of arms grows from your waist. Each one is long and many-jointed, ending in hands with many-more-jointed fingers.

The ethereal filcher is a pest among pests. These monopodal, spidery scamps hop between the ethereal and material planes, grabbing anything that catches their fancy and retreating to their layers to bask in the glow. This soulmeld grants the filcher's signature stealing and manifesting powers.

Initially, this soulmeld causes two arms to grow from your body. These arms are capable of holding things, but are entirely useless for combat. Their true benefit lies in their ability to easily slip into pockets. You gain a +4 bonus to Sleight of Hand checks.

Essentia: For each point of essentia invested in this soulmeld, you gain an additional +2 bonus to Sleight of Hand checks.

Chakra Bind (Waist)
There's a pressure against your insides, as though a tumor is making room with alarming alacrity. In fact, it is a new organ, one you instinctively know how to use.

While bound to your waist chakra, you gain the ability to move between the material and ethereal plane, or back again, as a move action.

Chakra Bind (Far)
You feel a tingling down your spine when magic is near. If you concentrate hard enough, magical auras reveal themselves to you.

You can use Detect Magic, as the spell, at will.

Parasitic Effects
Your target feels a pressure, like a rapidly-growing tumor inside them. In truth, this is the genesis of a new organ - one of yours.

You may force the target into the ethereal plane as a standard action. You must concentrate on the effect each round as a standard action, or the target returns.


Gibbering Cowl
Descriptors: Sonic, Mind-Affecting
Descriptors: None
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Throat (Far)
Saving Throw: Will

Your head and neck warp until you appear to be wearing a hood of your own skin, melding into your shoulders and chest. The skin feels wet and almost liquid, looking as though it is about to melt. Immediately, horrifically, an eye opens on what was your forehead.

The vampiric blob known as the gibbering mouther seems birthed straight from a nightmare. An amorphous body covered in constantly moving, growing, and receding eyes and mouths, sloughing along the ground towards prey like nothing so much as a lunatic puddle. Its thousands of mouths gibber in mind-cracking disharmony all the while.

This “cowl” grants various aspects of the gibbering mouther. Initially, the additional eye grants a +2 bonus on spot and search checks.

Essentia: Each point of essentia invested in the gibbering cow grants an additional +2 bonus on spot and search checks... and an additional eye.

Chakra Bind (Throat)
The cowl wraps around your throat like a scarf and melts down to your chest. Immediately, asymmetrical mouths tear open across your head, neck, and upper body.

As a free action, you can emit a horrible gibbering from your many mouths. Any enemy who can hear the gibbering must make a Will save each round or be confused for 1d2 rounds - success indicates that the target cannot be affected again for 24 hours. You can silence the mouths as a free action.

Chakra Bind (Far)
A dozen eyes tear their way open across all sides of your head. Some are very human, some... are very much not. The sudden visual input is overwhelming at first, but you acclimate very quickly

Your vision extends 360 degrees around you. You are incapable of being surprised.



Illithid Mask
Descriptors: None
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Brow (Far)
Saving Throw: None (Will)

Your skin swirls in small vortices around your mouth. After only a moment, your lips force their way from your face as though great worms are trying to break through them. Upon reaching a full eight inches in length, they hang down, occasionally twitching.

The illithid is among the most well-known and rightly feared of the aberrant brood. Their formidable intelligence, alien society, and horrific reproductive methods have carved them into the nightmares of mortals forever more.

The initial benefit of this soulmeld is among the least of the illithid’s great arsenal. You gain a tentacle attack. You can use this tentacle to attack a creature in an adjacent square. On a successful hit, it deals 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage, plus your strength modifier.

Essentia: You gain one additional tentacle for each point of essentia you invest in this soulmeld, to a maximum of four tentacles. You can use these additional tentacles during a full attack.

Chakra Bind (Brow)

The flesh of your tentacles reaches up your cheeks to your eyes, covering them in a blank, white sheen. You feel as though a multitude of tentacles are digging their way through your brain, each one drilling awful, painful strength into your mind.

You gain the ability to manifest a Mind Blast once every minute, which functions identically to the mind flayer ability of the same name. The save DC is as normal for a soulmeld.


Chakra Bind (Far)

Your brain enlarges, painfully pressing against your skull until that too balloons outward to encompass the girth of your new grey matter. The air around your head crackles with psionic energy, and your consciousness expands into the minds of those nearby.

While the illithid mask is bound to your far chakra, you become a psionic creature with a single power point. You are capable of becoming psionically focused, and can take advantage of psionic feats. Further, you can use Detect Thoughts and Telepathic Bond each at will.



Phasm Coat
Descriptors: None
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Heart (Far)
Saving Throw: None

Your skin pales to near translucence, revealing bright red arteries and unnaturally blue veins. It very suddenly feels unbearably itchy, as though your own skin was little more than an uncomfortable set of clothing.

The phasm is a powerful aberration, a slowly-crawling blob of ill-defined shape and color. But despite its resemblance to an ooze, it is actually a very intelligent creature, possessed of the incredible ability to assume nearly any shape.

The phasm coat provides a lesser version of the creature’s signature shapeshifiting talent. While this soulmeld is shaped, the meldshaper can alter minor, superficial features of their body. They gain a +2 bonus to all disguise checks.

Essentia: The bonus to disguise checks increases by +2 for each point of essentia invested in this soulmeld.

Chakra Bind (Heart)
While you do not change in any visible fashion, a highly uncomfortable feeling overtakes you as your internal organs rearrange themselves, merge together, and split apart.

While bound to your heart chakra, you become immune to poison, paralysis, sleep, stunning effects, and critical hits.

Chakra Bind (Far)
A thousand images rush through your mind. A thousand forms present themselves to you for the taking. Your feel a little sick from the whirlwind of information, but before you can react, it settles into your subconscious, ready to jump to the fore when called.

While bound to your far chakra, you gain the ability to shapeshift as a supernatural ability. As a standard action, you may take the form of any small- or medium-sized object or creature. If you become an object, you retain your own hit points but gain the object’s hardness. You retain your mental traits, but do not retain awareness of your surroundings unless you grant yourself sensory organs of some sort.

If you become a creature, you retain your mental traits but gain the creature’s physical ability scores, natural armor, movement modes, natural attacks, and senses. You have access to any Extraordinary abilities that the creature has access to. You retain your own hit points, regardless of whether or not your Constitution score changes. You may only become a creature whose hit dice are equal to or less than your total levels in meldshaping classes.

It is a standard action to shapeshift. You can change into a creature of your own type for an indefinite period, but you can only become a creature of another type for a number of rounds equal to the number of points of essentia invested in this soulmeld, at which point you assume your normal form. After the time limit is up, you cannot shapeshift again for 1 minute.

You retain access to your soulmelds while shapeshifted, although they are only visible in other shapes if you will them to be.


Rust Gloves
Descriptors: None
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Hands (Far)
Saving Throw: None (Fortitude)

Boils rapidly engulf your hands, hissing and painfully bursting into horrible goo. In a matter of seconds, the goo hardens into a tarnished brown shell, fingers rimmed with feathery protrusions.

Little more than a pest to most civilians, the rust monster is a terror to anyone who holds dear their weapons and armor. It is a horrible little thing, resembling a large beetle, who hungers for the taste of rusting metal. This soulmeld grants the irregular the rust monster's titular powers.

Initially, this soulmeld allows the user to "feel" the presence of metal items within 20 feet. Without any sort of action, the irregular knows whether or not there is metal within this range, and when metal is added or removed from the area. As a move action, the meldshaper can focus this sensation, gaining perfect knowledge of the size, shape, and location of all metal within range.

Essentia: Each point of essentia invested in Rust Gloves adds 10 feet to the sensory range.

Chakra Bind (Hands)
Your fingers protrude further and and further from your hands, until they resemble feather antennae.

You take a -2 penalty to any check that requires fine manipulation while this soulmeld is bound to your hands chakra. However, a successful touch attack against any piece of metal causes it to corrode, crumbling and becoming entirely useless immediately. You can destroy up to a 10-foot cube of metal instantly.

Magic items are allowed a Fortitude save to negate the effect.

Chakra Bind (Far)
You feel hungry. Oh, so hungry.

Upon binding this soulmeld to your Far chakra, you gain the ability to digest (and an overwhelming appetite for) metals of all sorts. You can survive strictly on copper pieces, eat your way through an army's barracks, or bite an iron golem to death. You gain a bite attack that deals 1d4 + your Strength modifier damage, but only to metal objects or creatures. This bite ignores the object's hardness or creature's damage reduction.

Parasitic Effects
Small bumps emerge from your victim's skin as he turns a dull brown-orange, reminiscent of a rust monster's carapace.

So long as this soulmeld is Parasitic, your victim cannot interact with metal objects without them crumbling to useless bits. Any mundane metal item the target handles rusts and crumbles, instantly becoming useless. Magical objects get a Fortitude Save (DC10 + the number of essentia invested in this soulmeld + your Consitution modifier) to negate the effect. The target can rust up to a 10-foot cube of metal per round in this way.

eftexar
2013-05-01, 09:51 PM
Honestly, I would rather see this along with it's own class, or as part of a prestige class, rather than providing access through a feat.

I just don't think it fits the flavor of the Incarnate or the Soulborn. I guess it would fit with the Totemist, but it already has it's own special chakra bind and making it more special seems out of place.

That and imagine the class features to go with it, especially if you take cue from Lords of Madness. Also Eberron has some pretty cool things called Symbiotes if you want some more ideas for more soulmelds.

Xallace
2013-05-01, 09:57 PM
Honestly, I would rather see this along with it's own class, or as part of a prestige class, rather than providing access through a feat.

Oh, it will be. It's just a feat for now in case someone wants to use it in the meantime. There will be a lot more soulmelds, as well. Haven't even covered all of the "iconic" aberrations yet - Aboleths & Beholders, at least. I'm going to append a "WIP" to the title to make that more clear, I think.

I'm not sure if I'd want to use Eberron's symbiotes as soulmelds. Although a symbiote / irregular shaping PrC sounds promising.

Xallace
2013-05-02, 09:15 AM
And a rough draft of the class is up.

The Tyler
2013-05-02, 09:24 AM
I do like the idea of a base class built around the concept, but I like the feat also because it gives other meldshapers access to it.

The description for Choker's Boots refers to them as "Choker's Quickness". Was that intentional? Also, I'm not sure I like the base effect or the Far bind. They don't seem to really fit the creature the soulmeld is from. I do however like the Feet bind.

Part of me wants to say give the choker a bonus to grapple checks, but that then treads on the cloaker, and I do like the cloaker. Maybe give a grapple check to the choker meld and glide/fly to the cloaker meld? Just tossing out ideas.

The others look great.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with for the other aberrations.

Edit: You added the class while I was reading and typing this. At first glance I like the class but it seems...scarce. That may just be me though.

Xallace
2013-05-02, 10:19 AM
The description for Choker's Boots refers to them as "Choker's Quickness". Was that intentional?

Ah, no. The soulmeld was originally named "Choker's Quickness," but I changed it at the last second and forgot to alter the rest of it. Thanks for pointing that out!


Also, I'm not sure I like the base effect or the Far bind. They don't seem to really fit the creature the soulmeld is from. I do however like the Feet bind.

It doesn't, really. That was the first one I wrote up, when I wasn't sure quite where I was going with the far bind. Another thing you might note is that the far binds are generally more powerful than the other ones... which is something I will have to toy with.


Part of me wants to say give the choker a bonus to grapple checks, but that then treads on the cloaker, and I do like the cloaker. Maybe give a grapple check to the choker meld and glide/fly to the cloaker meld? Just tossing out ideas.

It's worth thinking about. The cloaker mantle probably makes more sense as a shoulder bind, anyway.


The others look great.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with for the other aberrations.

Thank you very much.


Edit: You added the class while I was reading and typing this. At first glance I like the class but it seems...scarce. That may just be me though.

It's not you. Rough first draft, still playing with things.

The Tyler
2013-05-02, 02:45 PM
Ah, no. The soulmeld was originally named "Choker's Quickness," but I changed it at the last second and forgot to alter the rest of it. Thanks for pointing that out!

I figured that was the case, which is why I pointed it out.


It doesn't, really. That was the first one I wrote up, when I wasn't sure quite where I was going with the far bind. Another thing you might note is that the far binds are generally more powerful than the other ones... which is something I will have to toy with.

I did notice that. I just assumed it was intentional that the far binds were more powerful. I don't have much experience with incarnum.


It's worth thinking about. The cloaker mantle probably makes more sense as a shoulder bind, anyway.

Yeah, I hadn't thought about that, but now that you mention it, it does make more sense as a shoulder bind.


It's not you. Rough first draft, still playing with things.

I think it's off to a good start. I'm uncertain about what benefit imposing a soulmeld on an enemy would give, besides really messing with their mind. Also, is it intentional that you have to make a touch attack and they still get to make a Will save to resist it?

sirpercival
2013-05-02, 03:00 PM
I'll drop this here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13759647#post13759647)... I have more aberration soulmelds in the works, and also look at the Xevu and the Warped Disciple (in that thread).

Xallace
2013-05-02, 04:12 PM
I'll drop this here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13759647#post13759647)... I have more aberration soulmelds in the works, and also look at the Xevu and the Warped Disciple (in that thread).

Beaten to the punch, eh? That's cool, I'll give it a read. I think I'll keep working on this and maybe in the end we can compare notes, if you're interested.


I think it's off to a good start. I'm uncertain about what benefit imposing a soulmeld on an enemy would give, besides really messing with their mind. Also, is it intentional that you have to make a touch attack and they still get to make a Will save to resist it?

No obvious mechanical benefit, other than making social situations very difficult for them. Need to ruin that aristocrat's reputation? Spread some rumors about him being a mind flayer and then sprout tentacles out of his face.

Ah, no that was not intentional. Also a good catch.

zzuxon
2013-05-02, 04:48 PM
This is awesome. The meld list is a bit lacking, but you're working on that. I like how it's not just a totemist with different melds and special chakra, it has some unique stuff too.

Xallace
2013-05-02, 07:07 PM
Thank you very much.

Have added a few more melds and edited some of the current ones. I started playing with the idea that far chakra doesn't just rend open your mind to the horrible gurgling Whisper From Beyond, like I originally conceived, but can also put you in the mindset of the aberration you're melding.

Waker
2013-05-02, 09:11 PM
No obvious mechanical benefit, other than making social situations very difficult for them. Need to ruin that aristocrat's reputation? Spread some rumors about him being a mind flayer and then sprout tentacles out of his face.
Aside from those niche situations, it seems incredibly wasteful to put a soulbind on an enemy. Perhaps you could include a "Forced" Chakra Bind in each description of the soulmelds, while also still using your own essentia for investment. A rough example might be something like

Illithid Mask
Descriptors: None
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Brow (Far)
Saving Throw: None (Will)
...
Chakra Bind (Imposed)
Your head buzzes with a distracting static as your psyche now opens to telepathic chatter.
You receive a -2 penalty to Concentration, Listen and Spot for each point of essentia invested in this soulmeld.


You might also want to reconsider the lack of armor proficiencies. Alternatively you might give the class a scaling natural armor bonus separate from soulmelds.
For the bonus feat you may want to limit them to Incarnum or Aberrent feats (Lords of Madness).

The Tyler
2013-05-02, 10:54 PM
No obvious mechanical benefit, other than making social situations very difficult for them. Need to ruin that aristocrat's reputation? Spread some rumors about him being a mind flayer and then sprout tentacles out of his face.

Ah, no that was not intentional. Also a good catch.

Chaos, panic, disorder. Always fun stuff. :)


Aside from those niche situations, it seems incredibly wasteful to put a soulbind on an enemy. Perhaps you could include a "Forced" Chakra Bind in each description of the soulmelds, while also still using your own essentia for investment. A rough example might be something like

Illithid Mask
Descriptors: None
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Brow (Far)
Saving Throw: None (Will)
...
Chakra Bind (Imposed)
Your head buzzes with a distracting static as your psyche now opens to telepathic chatter.
You receive a -2 penalty to Concentration, Listen and Spot for each point of essentia invested in this soulmeld.


You might also want to reconsider the lack of armor proficiencies. Alternatively you might give the class a scaling natural armor bonus separate from soulmelds.
For the bonus feat you may want to limit them to Incarnum or Aberrent feats (Lords of Madness).

I think adding a specific benefit/penalty to imposed binds is a good idea. Otherwise, it likely won't see much use beyond idle entertainment. And light armor would be a reasonable proficiency I think.

Xallace
2013-05-03, 12:16 AM
Aside from those niche situations, it seems incredibly wasteful to put a soulbind on an enemy.

Well, the primary benefit is attaching them to your allies. I think the class feature could do for a higher-level upgrade where you can invest essentia in soulmelds you have shaped on other people, as well. Attaching them to your enemies just seemed like a fun aside to me, rather than a main feature.

Folks seem to be taking to the idea, though.


I think adding a specific benefit/penalty to imposed binds is a good idea. Otherwise, it likely won't see much use beyond idle entertainment.


Perhaps you could include a "Forced" Chakra Bind in each description of the soulmelds, while also still using your own essentia for investment. A rough example might be something like

Illithid Mask
Descriptors: None
Classes: Irregular
Chakra: Brow (Far)
Saving Throw: None (Will)
...
Chakra Bind (Imposed)
Your head buzzes with a distracting static as your psyche now opens to telepathic chatter.
You receive a -2 penalty to Concentration, Listen and Spot for each point of essentia invested in this soulmeld.

I actually like this idea a lot. Maybe one of the benefits of binding it to your Far chakra is that instead of the normal benefits, you can inflict the imposed conditions.



You might also want to reconsider the lack of armor proficiencies. Alternatively you might give the class a scaling natural armor bonus separate from soulmelds.
For the bonus feat you may want to limit them to Incarnum or Aberrent feats (Lords of Madness).

I will have to think about what I want to do with armor, but limiting the possible bonus feats sounds good.

Waker
2013-05-03, 12:41 AM
Well, the primary benefit is attaching them to your allies. I think the class feature could do for a higher-level upgrade where you can invest essentia in soulmelds you have shaped on other people, as well. Attaching them to your enemies just seemed like a fun aside to me, rather than a main feature.
Well, you could divide the Impose Bind ability into a positive bind ability for allies, we'll call it "Symbiotic Bind"; and a negative bind, which we'll call a "Parasitic Bind". At various levels the class could get Increased Essentia Capacity (Symbiotic) or (Parasitic) similar to how Incarnates get general improvement or Totemists get more for their Totem Chakra.
In both cases granting a separate pool of melds per day might be in order, since the class gets so few of them. Something to the effect of two or three each at maximum level. You could also include an Empathetic Bond that lets you know the approximate position of a bound target (useful for scouting or tracking a fleeing foe.) But of course there would be a limiting distance, based on meldshaper level or essentia invested.


I will have to think about what I want to do with armor, but limiting the possible bonus feats sounds good.
Just granting any feat as a bonus feat seemed a bit strong, hence why I suggested something that would be both useful and thematic to the class. You could also include a little caveat that taking Aberrant feats also grants 1 essentia per feat, to help keep up with all the essentia you'll be investing into other people's binds.

Deepbluediver
2013-05-03, 08:20 AM
I'll be honest, I think I prefered it as a Feat; would you consider reposting it so that I can use these with any Meldshaper? That way it can be sort of like the feat in ToB that lets any class learn Manuvers.

Xallace
2013-05-03, 09:07 AM
I'll be honest, I think I prefered it as a Feat; would you consider reposting it so that I can use these wtih any Meldshaper? That way it can be sort of like the feat in ToB that lets any class learn Manuvers.

Done & Done.

In other news, I'm fiddling with the Parasite/Symbiote idea, changed the "Impose Soulmeld" description significantly, and split up the class chart. There's some funky wording that I'll have to take care of later. Unnerving Presence now provides an AC bonus at 2nd level and higher.

Thank you for the input, everyone! I'm really excited to keep working on this thanks to the ideas so far.

Waker
2013-05-03, 01:44 PM
I return to comment more on this class!

1. Having one feat grant all (I know it's a huge list) of the Irregular's soulmelds seems excessive. There doesn't seem to be any restriction on the melds themselves, so anyone could just take Shape Soulmeld to get access to them anyways.

2. Concerning the number of symbiotic/parasitic bonds, you could just keep the table as it was originally and include in the special section "Imposed Bond (x/day)" rather than attaching a separate table.

3. I had a thought for slightly different mechanics on the Imposed Bond ability. What if the melds available for the powers were restricted to the ones that you had shaped for the day? Follow me on this one.
Symbiotic Bond: When shaping your soulmelds for the day you may apply the benefits of a meld to a friendly target. They gain the benefits of having worn the meld themselves and gain the same bonuses when you invest essentia into the soulmeld. The Symbiotic Bond does not grant the benefits that binding a soulmeld to a Chakra grants. The bond lasts for as long as the soulmeld remains shaped, but if the recipient moves more than 100ft from you, the effect is lost until they move back into range. While bound, you also gain an empathetic link to the target similar to the bond shared between a master and his familiar.
At X level, an Irregular gains the ability to share another Symbiotic Bond. You can share an additional soulmeld with the same target or grant the benefit to a different target. The soulmeld need not be the same when applying to multiple targets.
Parasitic Bond: You may make a melee touch attack against a target. The target must make a Will Sv DC=10+1/2 Irregular Lvl+Con Mod or be affected by the Parasite Chakra Bind effect listed under a soulmeld. The soulmeld used must be chosen from the soulmelds that the Irregular has shaped for the day. Any essentia that the Irregular invested into the soulmeld increases the penalty applies to a target stricken with a Parasitic Bond, in addition to the normal benefits received by the Irregular. The Bond lasts until the target is slain/destroyed or moves at least 100ft away from the Irregular. An Irregular may also sever the bond as a standard action.
At X level, an Irregular can shape an additional Parasitic Bond. One bond may be established per attack. You can impose an additional soulmeld with the same target or apply the penalties to a different target. The soulmeld need not be the same when applying to multiple targets.

That's the rough idea I had. Going this route would mean that the Irregular doesn't need to expend their own precious soulmelds to help/hinder others, plus they can have their essentia pulling double or even triple duty as they buff themselves and allies, while also hurting the enemies. You could also include a feat that allows them to apply multiple Parasitic Bonds with a single attack.

zzuxon
2013-05-04, 05:21 PM
Hey, I have a suggestion for Umber Hulks.
Umber Hulk Gauntlets
Class: Irregular
Chakra: Hands or Arms(Far)
Saving Throw: None

You gain a +2 natural Armor Bonus.
Essentia: You gain an additional point of AC bonus for every point of essential invested in this meld.

Chakra bind, Hands or Arms:
You gain a burrow speed of 10 ft, plus 5ft per point of essential invested.

Chakra Bind, Far:
You gain a natural slam attack, dealing 1d6+your strength modifier. You gain an additional d6 of damage for each essential invested.

Xuldarinar
2013-06-21, 03:20 PM
Im surprised I had never commented on this. I love the concept and it is something I'd possibly play or at least include in a campaign. In fact, I hope it is not a problem but I've made reference to this class in a feat I've made. In my signature theres a link to Incarnum Versatility. It has various feats that grant things to meldshapers and feats that aid in synergy between meldshaping classes and non-meldshaping classes. One feat i've created stacks druid levels with totemist levels for the purposes of Effective druid level for wild shape (though not uses or advancement), along with advancement for Totem Chakra bind. Well, remembering this i've included a variant attached to it. It would require Far Chakra, Wild Shape, and the Aberration Wild Shape feat. It stacks Irregular class levels with druid levels for the purposes of determining Far Chakra advancement along with effective druid level for wild shape. In the feat itself I've even put a link to this page. If this is a problem for you, just say so and I'll remove it.

Hanuman
2013-06-21, 06:53 PM
Subscribed, I'll post back when I can.

Xallace
2013-06-22, 03:43 PM
Oh geez, I had totally forgotten about this.

Well, good, I needed a project! I'll post a few more soulmelds up when I get the chance.

Hanuman
2013-06-25, 01:44 AM
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Chain_Devil

Unnerving Gaze is a great effect you don't see too much, also incredibly creepy.

Being able to manifest different psionic powers like getting the opponent to graphically mutilate themselves and such is quite horror.

Check out Evolutionist, Ozodrin and Harrowed homebrew baseclasses on this board for more ideas for soulmelds.

WarHunter
2017-02-05, 04:09 PM
I was Just wondering if this thread was dead or not?