Gravesoul Warrior (PEACH)

[LairdMaon]

It's a cool class and once it's visually polished up, everyone can really dig into it. If you need help with wording, I'm more than happy to help.

But I think my recommendations are:

• Full BAB might be too much, consider three-quarters BAB.
• Make sure you stay on-par with a Totemist as your "benchmark".
• You'll need more class skills. If you don't want more, I'd take your skills down to 2+Int. (Which I don't like.)
• The capstone is really powerful and probably needs to be nerfed. I'd at least make it 1/day.

You could go the way of the Warblade and provide a few handpicked feats to choose from. I'd recommend providing a list of feats equal to around 1.5x the number of bonus feats the class gets.


That is a huge undertaking. But remember you can have the class share some soulmelds with other classes. They already do that in a couple instances.

I've made a decent amount of homebrew, but not nearly as much as others. My latest was my Hexblade, which is probably my best formatting example and one of my more solid classes. Feel free to poach any formatting you'd like from it.

Full BAB to 3/4 BAB makes sense. It's a mite overpowered with full BAB.
Capstone currently could be used for EVERY encounter in a day plus extra. I'll nerf it.
Feats: I'll stick with Fighter. More options to make your GsW YOUR GsW.

I'm already brewing more melds.
I kinda want to call them gravemelds. The term would be thematic. Otherwise interchangeable with soulmelds.

[LoyalPaladin]

Full BAB to 3/4 BAB makes sense. It's a mite overpowered with full BAB.

That should bring it in line!

Capstone currently could be used for EVERY encounter in a day plus extra. I'll nerf it.

This is a good start, for sure! I'll wait for someone who is better with essentia to weigh in on the power level it has as a single use ability. As it stands, I feel like it is still much more powerful than the Totemist's capstone. But MoI isn't my strong suit.

Feats: I'll stick with Fighter. More options to make your GsW YOUR GsW.

Usually a good default option.

I'm already brewing more melds.

Cool beans, excited to see them!

I kinda want to call them gravemelds. The term would be thematic. Otherwise interchangeable with soulmelds.

I believe if you do this, RAW would dictate they're not the same thing and can't be interchanged. Just as a heads-up.

[LairdMaon]

What about a soulmeld that allows the GsW to alter his size? Each essentia point enlarges or shrinks the character one size category. Could split that between two soulmelds, one enlarges while the other shrinks.

[LoyalPaladin]

What about a soulmeld that allows the GsW to alter his size? Each essentia point enlarges or shrinks the character one size category. Could split that between two soulmelds, one enlarges while the other shrinks.

That is incredibly powerful. Probably far more powerful than the soulmeld that Totemists use to grapple things.

[LairdMaon]

Hm... I'll keep thinking.

Thanks much, LP! Gygax knows I appreciate the assist here!

[LoyalPaladin]

Hm... I'll keep thinking.

Thanks much, LP! Gygax knows I appreciate the assist here!

No problem! Here to help.

[Maxrim]

Hey! I like the class!

I haven't gotten through all the soulmelds yet, but I wanted to start talking about my impressions.

Gravesoul Warrior feels like a mouthful. If you're open to shortening it, perhaps just Gravesoul?
"I'm a 3rd level Gravesoul", "I'm going to multiclass into Gravesoul", "Check out this new metal band I'm digging, Gravesoul"

The chassis is really nice, and it gets more soulmelds than an Incarnate. I see that LP already encouraged you to go down to average BAB, but as an alternative option, lighten the meldshaping. I'd give one less soulmeld at each level (1 at 1st, 8 at 19th, plus Grave Gate means equal to Incarnate), and either next Chakra binds or toss a Good save, I could see an argument for Fort or Will.

With Undead Scion, you should specificy that bonuses from soulmelds that normally wouldn't stack with preexisting bonuses stack as if they were untyped bonuses.
That way it doesn't lead to confusion as to whether your other bonuses can stack (wear 11 Str enhancing items), or whether the same soulmeld can be used multiple times for a recursive bonus.
Is that 3 minutes 1 use that lasts 3 minutes? Or spread out at will?
If it's the former, I'd increase the duration, 10 minutes? A number of minutes equal to Con, like the Totem is?
If it's the latter, I'd nerf the duration or activation. Either rounds per Con mod with free activation, or 3 minutes with full-round activation. 3 minutes can last through a lot of combat. Probably specify the activation either way.

Devourer's Boon feels like it's just another number. I'd like to see it more dynamic. Only applying to Undead melds is meaningless when most of your melds (all your good ones) have that tag. I think the best way to do that would be to tie it in with the abilities of a Devourer, make it a little gimmicky. Note that this ability gives this class more essentia capacity than anyone else on the block.

Vitality of Undeath is controversial in my view. Many groups already buff or alter HD, and what this ability does is prevent that from being relevant, remove randomness, and make me change my mind about the d8 being a weakness for the martial chassis. On the one hand, this is great for liches. On the other, I don't like how it plays most of the time.

Channel Undeath. A good effect to have, I like it, its power depends on the soulmelds available. One of the big mistakes with the Duskblade is not giving it versatility in what to apply its version to. I hope to see at least a few different options among the melds.

Grave Gate
Oofda. This is hefty. Lots of immunities, very powerful, I get a bit of a knee-jerk on seeing it. On second consideration, I think it's alright.

Hunefur
I'd explicitly limit the Shoulder bind to physical damage, it's implied, but not entirely clear.

Wight Eyes
The DV range isn't defined, I'd go with 10ft +10ft/E
Lifesight is very powerful.
Here's a touch attack effect. It's powerful, in fact, is halve the scaling. 1 + 1/2E negative levels. With Channel Undeath available, I'd also consider making it once /round. Or better, make Channel Undeath one per round, let them choose between the touch and their weapon.

Children of the Skull Lord
*whistles*
I assume the speed boost only applies when charging.
Still, I'd nerf this, there's a reason so many melee builds dip Lion Totem Barbarian. I'd put the charge as the main effect, the Pounce in the Feet slot, and add a recharge on the Boneshard Blast to prevent all day incorporeality.

Blaspheme
Pretty nice. I like my previous suggestion of making Channel Undeath once/round more with this. I assume you mean touch attack with the Arm bind? Though I suppose it isn't super relevant if Channel Undeath is unlimited.

I'll do the rest later!

I dig the class, I think some of it needs some toning down, but it looks good!

[LairdMaon]

Thanks for the interest and support!

I've been thinking about some of the features as you guys have pointed out and I'd like to hear your thoughts on some updates.

3/4 BAB

Fort= Good
Makes sense for a martial class.

Channel Undeath (Su):
Beginning at 3rd level, you can use a standard action to use any touch attack or cast any touch spell you know and deliver the effect through your weapon with a melee attack. Using a touch attack or casting a spell in this manner does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The spell must have a casting time of 1 standard action or less. If the melee attack is successful, the attack deals damage normally; then the effect of the touch attack or spell is resolved.
At 13th level, you can cast any touch attack or touch spell you know as part of a full attack action, and the touch attack or spell affects each target you hit in melee combat that round. Doing so discharges the spell at the end of the round, in the case of a touch spell that would otherwise last longer than 1 round.

Undead Scion - 1/day for 3+con bonus/minutes, Full action to activate
All soulmelds are filled to capacity
And
Bonuses from soulmelds stack as untyped bonuses.

Devourer's Boon, how would you make it more gimmicky?

Vitality of Undeath I like as is. I specifically chose to use a d8 to keep it from being overpowered.

I'll work on growing the skill list shortly.

Loving the name idea!

[Maxrim]

Using this idea, I'd cut their essentia by a good chunk. Maybe 1 at 1st, 11th, 15th, and 19th, plus half class level? That'd scale to 14 at level 20, allowing a maximum potential essentia of 34 at level 20 (you know, AFTER you kill something with 40 HD). It's also similar to the lopsided progression of other incarnum classes.

Edit: Actually, I'd go for sneak attack progression for essentia (every odd level), plus 14, 16, 18, 20. Otherwise they're just getting a bunch of extra essentia in the mid levels.

Once per day, you may trap the essence of a living creature who dies within 30ft of you.

The trapped essence provides you with a number of Grave Essentia equal to 1/2 the creature's HD (maximum class level). Grave Essentia fades when you reshape soulmelds, and does not stack (you may only have 1 trapped essence at once). It may be assigned to the same benefit as regular Essentia, and reallocated as part of the same swift action.

Grave Essentia does not count against maximum essentia invested in a given receptacle, but instead has its own limit based on class level. At 6th level, you may invest 1 point of Grave Essentia into a given receptacle. At 12th level, this increases to 2 points, and to 3 points at 18th level.

A creature whose essence you trap cannot be resurrected until you reshape soul melds or trap another essence.

This provides a potential for more essentia, but you get notably less until after your first encounter (unless you keep a slaughterhouse of high HD creatures, which I think could fit flavor. I wouldn't have big-ass centipedes and such breed in captivity.)
If you want to be more forgiving, allow the trapped essence to be taken (swapping the previous one out) 2/day at 12, and 3/day at 18.

[LoyalPaladin]

Once per day, you may trap the essence of a living creature who dies within 30ft of you.

Actually, this does give me an idea. Take it or leave it, but if you gave them full BAB and made them a half shaper, you could give them the ability to drain essentia during combat and beef up their melds.

Just spitballing. But it's an idea.

[LairdMaon]

Using this idea, I'd cut their essentia by a good chunk. Maybe 1 at 1st, 11th, 15th, and 19th, plus half class level? That'd scale to 14 at level 20, allowing a maximum potential essentia of 34 at level 20 (you know, AFTER you kill something with 40 HD). It's also similar to the lopsided progression of other incarnum classes.

Edit: Actually, I'd go for sneak attack progression for essentia (every odd level), plus 14, 16, 18, 20. Otherwise they're just getting a bunch of extra essentia in the mid levels.

Once per day, you may trap the essence of a living creature who dies within 30ft of you.

The trapped essence provides you with a number of Grave Essentia equal to 1/2 the creature's HD (maximum class level). Grave Essentia fades when you reshape soulmelds, and does not stack (you may only have 1 trapped essence at once). It may be assigned to the same benefit as regular Essentia, and reallocated as part of the same swift action.

Grave Essentia does not count against maximum essentia invested in a given receptacle, but instead has its own limit based on class level. At 6th level, you may invest 1 point of Grave Essentia into a given receptacle. At 12th level, this increases to 2 points, and to 3 points at 18th level.

A creature whose essence you trap cannot be resurrected until you reshape soul melds or trap another essence.

This provides a potential for more essentia, but you get notably less until after your first encounter (unless you keep a slaughterhouse of high HD creatures, which I think could fit flavor. I wouldn't have big-ass centipedes and such breed in captivity.)
If you want to be more forgiving, allow the trapped essence to be taken (swapping the previous one out) 2/day at 12, and 3/day at 18.

Alright. I read and then reread this several times today trying to see if my opinion changed at all. Nope. No change.

Yes to all of it. It's great, I love it!

With luck I won't have to take either of my kids to the ER tonight and I'll actually be able to update the class this evening.

Um... Were you thinking that Devourer's Boon should begin at lvl 6 still? Cause that's what I'm thinking at this point. It fits well there.

[Maxrim]

Yeah, I like the 6/12/18 progression.
LP's thought of full BAB, nerfed incarnum is a good one if you're feeling it. It's an interesting design choice, and entirely up to you.

More Soulmelds!

Blackskate!
I'd halve the Swim speed.
My first thought for the rage was regarding power, then I questioned the AC bonus (rather than penalty). Then I looked up the actual Bloodskate. Interesting.
The ability is powerful. I'd nerf it fairly heavily, cutting the bonus by half. +1 base, +1/2E.

Forlorn Husk!
Looks good! I like the moisture drain.

Sanguinous Drinker!
Damn. Strictly better than Hunefur and untyped. I'd cut the bonus by half and/or the scaling by half. Either +2+1E or +1+1E. Then I'd make it an Insight bonus.
The Hand Chakra is nice, looks good.
The Waist chakra is high level, but can be really crazy, I'd cut the scaling by half, 1 dmg +1 dmg/2E.

Nightshade!
The base ability is pretty powerful, pushing it, but I don't think it needs a nerf.
The Hand chakra ability is nice, but it doesn't scale off size, and I don't know if you're taking into account the fact that most weapons are 2-3 size categories smaller than their wielder. I'd say two categories smaller than you are (and powerful build will increase that).
The Feet ability is more powerful than the Shoulder one. I'd switch those, because 5th level Overland Flight can be disruptive.
I'd also make the Haste E*Meldshaper level rounds/day.

Bone Naga!
Tremorsense is cool, you seem to be offering a lot of alternative vision options.
The Crown Chakra is fine.
What applies the poison from the Arm chakra? Also, what ability determines the DC? Con? Cha? Wis? Nightshade specifies Str, but I assume that isn't universal.
Brow Chakra, you say anyone willing AND will negates? It should be one or the other. Also the same DC question.
The Waist looks good.

Horrific Vasuthant!
Sounds good, a relevant pick, but not OP. Maybe say instead of a +4 bonus, you gain a bonus on grapple checks equal to twice the essentia invested.
Throat Chakra: Looks good, but I'd allow Light spells with a CL greater than ML to overcome it, or maybe allow a CL check vs DC 11 + ML.
Brow Chakra: That's a LOT of rerolls. A lot a lot. 1/3rd that much would be a lot. To keep it in line with other reroll abilities, I'd make it an immediate action, and once per encounter at most. Maybe once per day.
Waist Chakra: I'd lower the base to 1/-, but keep the scaling the same.

Gravecrawler!
Tremorsense again. Seems repetitive, but not problematic.
Feet: I'd halve the scaling.
Arms: That's about as vague as you can get. 1d4 Con damage what? When you're looking at several d4s of Con damage, I hope it's hard to apply, or allows a save. Needs specification.
Shoulder: It freely deals a Con dmg /E each round? Without a save? I'd make that a flat 1 Con dmg, and halve the range scaling, and it's still powerful at that.

Skull Lord!
Looks good!
Hands: I'd make it a a masterwork quarterstaff as a base, but keep the Essentia scaling the same
Throat: What action(s) does this take?

Vilewight!
Base looks good, powerful, but alright.
Arms: Do you mean a negative level? I'd note for all negative level things how long they last, whether they offer an immediate fort save, and note that there's an additional one if they last 24 hours.
Heart Chakra looks good.

Fire Spectre!
Base ability seems cool. Scales by additional d4s of damage or duration? Additional duration seems eh, but damage for catching fire is USUALLY d6s. Either way I'd specify how much damage.
Hand: Force descriptor? So all your attacks affect ethereal creatures? Or they overcome fire immunity? The former is nice, the latter is stupid powerful. Maybe if it just applied to this soulmeld?
Crown: I'd lower the base damage to 1d6, or increase it to 4d6 or 5d6 and make it a Throat bind.

I'll start with the Dread Ram later!

[LairdMaon]

I'm eating up this feedback!

Working on the update now.

[LoyalPaladin]

I'm eating up this feedback!

Working on the update now.

Once the formatting is complete, I can help you with some of the wording a balance. If we're lucky, Zaydos and Extra Anchovies will pop in eventually.

[LairdMaon]

Actually, this does give me an idea. Take it or leave it, but if you gave them full BAB and made them a half shaper, you could give them the ability to drain essentia during combat and beef up their melds.

Just spitballing. But it's an idea.

Rereading this just gave me a dirty idea... What if I made two undead meldshaper classes? A fighter chassis and a rogue chassis?

First update done. More to come!

[neriractor]

Rereading this just gave me a dirty idea... What if I made two undead meldshaper classes? A fighter chassis and a rogue chassis?

just coming in to say that this class is awesome, I gave a good read and instantly bookmarked it

No comment on the balance but I would love to see how you would split this into two classes, perhaps with the full-BAB and half-meldshaping suggestion? anyway, great work

[LairdMaon]

just coming in to say that this class is awesome, I gave a good read and instantly bookmarked it

Aww! You made me blush!

[LoyalPaladin]

I'm back! Let me see what I can work up here.

First, I'll take a crack at some of the class features. I've already done this one once before, but I'm going to give it a better whirl, now that the class is shaping (hehe) up.

Undead Scion (Su):
At 20th level, you gain the ability to make your body a conduit for profane energies. This greatly empowers all of your soulmelds. For the duration of this ability, all of your soulmelds are treated as having 2 more essentia invested in them than they already do (this cannot surpass your maximum essentia capacity).

Activating this ability is a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. It can be used once per day and lasts for a number of minutes equal to your Constitution bonus (minimum 1).

I know, I know. This sounds like a nerf. But it's far closer to being in line with the Totemist capstone and it still holds the original ability's feeling.

Devourer's Boon
Once per day, you may trap the essence of a living creature who dies within 30ft of you.

I'm going to re-iterate my other post here. Hear me out. If you change the class to have half-meldshaping, but progress half sneak attack, this could turn into a really neat class. Alternately, you could go full-BAB and drop sneak attack, but you'd need to re-purpose Channel Undeath and find something else to trigger Devourer's Boon. You could add oodles of class skills in if you pulled some from Blackguard and Rogue, possibly make he class have 6 skill points per level and pull a spellthief, where it can sacrifice sneak attack dice to temporarily steal essentia. Even if you steal essentia for 1 minute, that could be really helpful.

Vitality of Undeath.

I really think this should move up to level 10 or 11 and be worded to only include Gravesoul Warrior levels. Otherwise I'd dip this on every tank ever.

Channel Undeath (Su):
Beginning at 3rd level, you can use a standard action to use any touch attack or cast any touch spell you know and deliver the effect through your weapon with a melee attack. Using a touch attack or casting a spell in this manner does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The spell must have a casting time of 1 standard action or less. If the melee attack is successful, the attack deals damage normally; then the effect of the touch attack or spell is resolved.
At 13th level, you can cast any touch attack or touch spell you know as part of a full attack action, and the touch attack or spell affects each target you hit in melee combat that round. Doing so discharges the spell at the end of the round, in the case of a touch spell that would otherwise last longer than 1 round.

This is a cool concept, but it means you have to multi-class. Which is really bad for a class feature. It would work for a prestige class, since you could require spellcasting and meldshaping. But if you go 20 levels into Gravesoul Warrior, you can basically count this out of your class features. I'd drop this and add Sneak Attack if you take my previous suggestion.

[LairdMaon]

I'm back! Let me see what I can work up here.

First, I'll take a crack at some of the class features. I've already done this one once before, but I'm going to give it a better whirl, now that the class is shaping (hehe) up.


I know, I know. This sounds like a nerf. But it's far closer to being in line with the Totemist capstone and it still holds the original ability's feeling.

I'm going to take a bit to think on this. I see what you are going for, but I gotta see if this first better than the existing capstone.

I'm going to re-iterate my other post here. Hear me out. If you change the class to have half-meldshaping, but progress half sneak attack, this could turn into a really neat class. Alternately, you could go full-BAB and drop sneak attack, but you'd need to re-purpose Channel Undeath and find something else to trigger Devourer's Boon. You could add oodles of class skills in if you pulled some from Blackguard and Rogue, possibly make he class have 6 skill points per level and pull a spellthief, where it can sacrifice sneak attack dice to temporarily steal essentia. Even if you steal essentia for 1 minute, that could be really helpful.

This seems to be more reason to make two classes out of this, lol!

I really think this should move up to level 10 or 11 and be worded to only include Gravesoul Warrior levels. Otherwise I'd dip this on every tank ever.

Yeah, I see it now. See, folks? THIS is why we PEACH things!

This is a cool concept, but it means you have to multi-class. Which is really bad for a class feature. It would work for a prestige class, since you could require spellcasting and meldshaping. But if you go 20 levels into Gravesoul Warrior, you can basically count this out of your class features. I'd drop this and add Sneak Attack if you take my previous suggestion.

This... I'm not understanding why Channel Undeath would require multi-classing. I tried to design it to allow the touch attacks gained from any source, primarily soulmelds, to add to one's standard attack much the same way the duskblade's arcane channel works.

[LoyalPaladin]

I'm going to take a bit to think on this. I see what you are going for, but I gotta see if this first better than the existing capstone.

Here was my reasoning here. The totemist can double the essentia capacity of its totem chakra as its capstone. This is once per day, with the same duration as the edit I suggested. So those are on par.

The totemist still has to come up with and reallocate its essentia from its other soulmelds to fill up that newly enhanced totem. The original capstone on the Gravesoul filled all of its chakras to capacity, which means it gained a total of 22 essentia from its capstone, without any downsides. It also lets bonuses stack, which is pretty strong and a little odd for the class...

Math
You have 9 chakras and each has a capacity of 4, this gives you a total essentia capacity of 36. The essentia a 20th level Gravesoul has to invest is 14. Which means that the current capstone would grant 22 bonus essentia for a substantial duration more than once a day.

This seems to be more reason to make two classes out of this, lol!

If you really like soulmelds. I would probably spend a week in Nessus before I built my own meldshaper... Haha!

It's more of a "define its role" type of argument for this one. It seems like a Blackguard, Boneknight, etc., sort of "what is the Gravesoul?" Is it a sneak? A necromancer? An undead warrior? An evil warrior? What makes it tick!

Yeah, I see it now. See, folks? THIS is why we PEACH things!

I've been caught in that trap often, don't worry.

This... I'm not understanding why Channel Undeath would require multi-classing. I tried to design it to allow the touch attacks gained from any source, primarily soulmelds, to add to one's standard attack much the same way the duskblade's arcane channel works.

I see what you're doing. I misread it. I'm going to have to defer to someone like Zaydos for that. It just isn't my forte.

[LairdMaon]

Here was my reasoning here. The totemist can double the essentia capacity of its totem chakra as its capstone. This is once per day, with the same duration as the edit I suggested. So those are on par.

The totemist still has to come up with and reallocate its essentia from its other soulmelds to fill up that newly enhanced totem. The original capstone on the Gravesoul filled all of its chakras to capacity, which means it gained a total of 22 essentia from its capstone, without any downsides. It also lets bonuses stack, which is pretty strong and a little odd for the class...

Math
You have 9 chakras and each has a capacity of 4, this gives you a total essentia capacity of 36. The essentia a 20th level Gravesoul has to invest is 14. Which means that the current capstone would grant 22 bonus essentia for a substantial duration more than once a day.

You make a good argument, sir. SOLD!

If you really like soulmelds. I would probably spend a week in Nessus before I built my own meldshaper... Haha!

Nessus? Don't know it.

It's more of a "define its role" type of argument for this one. It seems like a Blackguard, Boneknight, etc., sort of "what is the Gravesoul?" Is it a sneak? A necromancer? An undead warrior? An evil warrior? What makes it tick!

I'm going to re-iterate my other post here. Hear me out. If you change the class to have half-meldshaping, but progress half sneak attack, this could turn into a really neat class. Alternately, you could go full-BAB and drop sneak attack, but you'd need to re-purpose Channel Undeath and find something else to trigger Devourer's Boon. You could add oodles of class skills in if you pulled some from Blackguard and Rogue, possibly make he class have 6 skill points per level and pull a spellthief, where it can sacrifice sneak attack dice to temporarily steal essentia. Even if you steal essentia for 1 minute, that could be really helpful.

I'm going to play with these thoughts for a couple days. I feel like the way to go is the full warrior (full BAB, no SA, half meldshaping) and full sneaky (3/4BAB, half-or-full SA, full meldshaping). I'll need to play with it more.

[LoyalPaladin]

You make a good argument, sir. SOLD!

I do my best. I'm not usually as critical of abilities as I was with this one. But it just seemed a bit much.

Nessus? Don't know it.

It isn't a nice place.

I'm going to play with these thoughts for a couple days. I feel like the way to go is the full warrior (full BAB, no SA, half meldshaping) and full sneaky (3/4BAB, half-or-full SA, full meldshaping). I'll need to play with it more.

Play as you will! My suggestion, since it is sort of hard to explain in text form, is something like this!

Spoiler: Enter at your own peril.

Show

Table: Gravesoul Warrior						Meldshaping
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Class Features	Soulmelds	Essentia	Chakra Binds
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Turn or Rebuke Undead, Lifesense (20 ft.)	0	0	0
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Sneak Attack +1d6	0	0	0
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Bonus Feat	0	0	0
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Devourer's Boon	1	0	0
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Lifesense (30 ft.)	1	0	0
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	Channel Undeath, Sneak Attack +2d6	1	1	0
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Bonus Feat	1	1	0
8th	+6/+1	+6	+2	+6	Chakra binds (crown, feet, hands)	2	2	1
9th	+6/+1	+6	+3	+6	-	2	2	1
10th	+7/+2	+7	+3	+7	Lifesense (40 ft.), Sneak Attack +3d6	2	3	1
11th	+8/+3	+7	+3	+7	Vitality of Undeath	2	3	1
12th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	-	3	4	1
13th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	Bonus Feat	3	4	1
14th	+10/+5	+9	+4	+9	Chakra binds (arms, brow, shoulders), Sneak Attack +4d6	3	5	2
15th	+11/+6/+1	+9	+5	+9	Lifesense (50 ft.)	3	5	2
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	-	4	6	2
17th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	Bonus Feat	4	7	2
18th	+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+11	Chakra binds (throat, waist), Sneak Attack +5d6	4	8	3
19th	+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+11	-	4	9	3
20th	+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+12	Undead Scion, Lifesense (60 ft.)	5	10	3

Life Sense (Ex):
You first learn how to recognize the ebb and flow of life energy. You can sense the location of living creatures within 20 feet (as if you had blindsense), and can also determine the condition of creatures near death within this range (as if you were using the deathwatch spell).

The range of this ability expands by 10 feet at every 5th class level.

Devourer's Boon (Su)
At 4th level, a gravesoul who hits an opponent with a successful sneak attack can choose to forgo dealing 1d6 points of sneak attack damage and instead gain a temporary point of essentia. This essentia lasts for 1 minute per gravesoul level.

There is no limit to the amount of essentia a gravesoul can gain this way.

Channel Undeath (Su):
At 6th level, a gravesoul can make a melee touch attack and, if successful, deal 1d6 negative energy damage per soulmeld the gravesoul has shaped. The gravesoul then gains a number of hit points equal to the damage dealt to his target. (The amount healed cannot put a gravesoul over his maximum hit points.)

Now that I have a visual aid, let me explain a bit better...

Since they have less chakras to shape now, you could replace "Grave Gate" with "Turn or Rebuke Undead". That's a powerful tool to have in one's arsenal, but I think it's thematically fitting. Keeping Grave Gate would basically eat up one of their chakras that they have less of now.

Half Meldshaping and thus, half essentia sucks. But, the class would have ways to soften that blow with Devourer's Boon and, of course, Undead Scion. At higher levels you'd barely feel the impact of half-essentia, if you did at all. I'd actually switch the bonus feats to be bonus [Incarnum] feats now, instead of fighter.

Half sneak attack is actually fairly awesome and you can use it for utility purposes, which is handy. Unfortunately that means you've got to have 3/4 BAB. If there was no meldshaping, I'd say go full BAB. Conversely, if there is no SA you could go full BAB too. But that'd throw the whole suggested edit into disarray.

You'll notice that I dropped Tomb-Tainted Soul off the class. Partway through this post I realized that it could be negative (hehe) for the class to have that feat. Since, I believe, it would cause them to take damage from cure spells. But I left Channel Undeath loosely worded to account for anybody who decides to take the feat of their own free will.

Oh yeah, I forgot to touch on Channel Undeath. That is a minor buff, but eventually you can heal yourself for 5d6 damage from it. Which is a decent utility heal.

I tossed in Life Sense from Thief of Life (Faiths of Eberron), but expanded the range for some flavor and utility.

Overall, the class has more features, less incarnum, but a more robust chassy. If you wanted a more scoundrel feel, you could up the skill points to 6/level, swap the fort or will save with ref, and drop the HD to a d6. You'd be no worse for the wear, thanks to Vitality of Undeath. I would recommend tossing in some more roguey skills either way.

If you hate it, no harm no foul! If you love it, great! If it's meh, that's fine! It's not like I want you to like it or anything... b-baka!

[LairdMaon]

Spoiler: Enter at your own peril.

Show

Table: Gravesoul Warrior						Meldshaping
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Class Features	Soulmelds	Essentia	Chakra Binds
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Turn or Rebuke Undead, Lifesense (20 ft.)	0	0	0
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Sneak Attack +1d6	0	0	0
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Bonus Feat	0	0	0
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Devourer's Feast	1	0	0
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Lifesense (30 ft.)	1	0	0
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	Entropic Touch, Sneak Attack +2d6	1	1	0
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Bonus Feat	1	1	0
8th	+6/+1	+6	+2	+6	Chakra binds (crown, feet, hands)	2	2	1
9th	+6/+1	+6	+3	+6	-	2	2	1
10th	+7/+2	+7	+3	+7	Lifesense (40 ft.), Sneak Attack +3d6	2	3	1
11th	+8/+3	+7	+3	+7	Vitality of Undeath	2	3	1
12th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	-	3	4	1
13th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	Bonus Feat	3	4	1
14th	+10/+5	+9	+4	+9	Chakra binds (arms, brow, shoulders), Sneak Attack +4d6	3	5	2
15th	+11/+6/+1	+9	+5	+9	Lifesense (50 ft.)	3	5	2
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	-	4	6	2
17th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	Bonus Feat	4	7	2
18th	+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+11	Chakra binds (throat, waist), Sneak Attack +5d6	4	8	3
19th	+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+11	-	4	9	3
20th	+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+12	Undead Scion, Lifesense (60 ft.)	5	10	3

Life Sense (Ex):
You first learn how to recognize the ebb and flow of life energy. You can sense the location of living creatures within 20 feet (as if you had blindsense), and can also determine the condition of creatures near death within this range (as if you were using the deathwatch spell).

The range of this ability expands by 10 feet at every 5th class level.

Devourer's Feast (Su)
At 4th level, a gravesoul who hits an opponent with a successful sneak attack can choose to forgo dealing 1d6 points of sneak attack damage and instead gain a temporary point of essentia. This essentia lasts for 1 minute per gravesoul level.

There is no limit to the amount of essentia a gravesoul can gain this way.

Entropic Touch (Su):
At 6th level, a gravesoul can make a melee touch attack and, if successful, deal 1d6 negative energy damage per soulmeld the gravesoul has shaped. The gravesoul then gains a number of hit points equal to the damage dealt to his target. (The amount healed cannot put a gravesoul over his maximum hit points.)

Now that I have a visual aid, let me explain a bit better...

Since they have less chakras to shape now, you could replace "Grave Gate" with "Turn or Rebuke Undead". That's a powerful tool to have in one's arsenal, but I think it's thematically fitting. Keeping Grave Gate would basically eat up one of their chakras that they have less of now.

Half Meldshaping and thus, half essentia sucks. But, the class would have ways to soften that blow with Devourer's Boon and, of course, Undead Scion. At higher levels you'd barely feel the impact of half-essentia, if you did at all. I'd actually switch the bonus feats to be bonus [Incarnum] feats now, instead of fighter.

Half sneak attack is actually fairly awesome and you can use it for utility purposes, which is handy. Unfortunately that means you've got to have 3/4 BAB. If there was no meldshaping, I'd say go full BAB. Conversely, if there is no SA you could go full BAB too. But that'd throw the whole suggested edit into disarray.

You'll notice that I dropped Tomb-Tainted Soul off the class. Partway through this post I realized that it could be negative (hehe) for the class to have that feat. Since, I believe, it would cause them to take damage from cure spells. But I left Channel Undeath loosely worded to account for anybody who decides to take the feat of their own free will.

Oh yeah, I forgot to touch on Channel Undeath. That is a minor buff, but eventually you can heal yourself for 5d6 damage from it. Which is a decent utility heal.

I tossed in Life Sense from Thief of Life (Faiths of Eberron), but expanded the range for some flavor and utility.

Overall, the class has more features, less incarnum, but a more robust chassy. If you wanted a more scoundrel feel, you could up the skill points to 6/level, swap the fort or will save with ref, and drop the HD to a d6. You'd be no worse for the wear, thanks to Vitality of Undeath. I would recommend tossing in some more roguey skills either way.

If you hate it, no harm no foul! If you love it, great! If it's meh, that's fine! It's not like I want you to like it or anything... b-baka!

By changing the names of two class features, dropping the hit die to d6, bumping skill points to 6, and being open to adding more scoundrel style features I see this as a sister class to what I had envisioned.

As such, it is awe-inspiring!

For the initial class though, I'm really tied to the original Channel Undeath, Devourer's Boon, Grave Gate and full meldshaping. These and a good BAB were core parts of the concept.

Bonus feats specifically (Incarnum) works well.
Dropping Tomb-Tainted Soul I can live with.

[LoyalPaladin]

By changing the names of two class features, dropping the hit die to d6, bumping skill points to 6, and being open to adding more scoundrel style features I see this as a sister class to what I had envisioned.

You are welcome to use it. I'll most likely never make a meldshaper of my own.

As such, it is awe-inspiring!

Why thank you!

For the initial class though, I'm really tied to the original Channel Undeath, Devourer's Boon, Grave Gate and full meldshaping. These and a good BAB were core parts of the concept.

Do as you will! I'm merely here to help.

Bonus feats specifically (Incarnum) works well.

It'd be too much on a full-shaping class. But on a half-shaper it'd be fine.

[LairdMaon]

You are welcome to use it. I'll most likely never make a meldshaper of my own.


Why thank you!


Do as you will! I'm merely here to help.


It'd be too much on a full-shaping class. But on a half-shaper it'd be fine.

Before the day is out I'll try to give your contribution it's own post. And ill call it a collaboration between us. It can be our creepy undead baby. ;)

(Incarnum) bonus feats for the half meldshaper; (Fighter) for the full meldshaper.

Now to name the creepy baby...

[LoyalPaladin]

Before the day is out I'll try to give your contribution it's own post. And ill call it a collaboration between us. It can be our creepy undead baby. ;)

You might almost benefit making them three threads. One for the rogue one, one for the Gravesoul, and one for the Soulmelds. That'll get them all more individual attention and make them easier to format. Just my two CP.

(Incarnum) bonus feats for the half meldshaper; (Fighter) for the full meldshaper.

Yeppers peppers.

Now to name the creepy baby...

Simple is better. Reaver, perhaps? Also, I think you updated your OP's title, but not the actual thread's title.

[Xgya]

I've been looking at this class a bit.

I like the separate features, but I think that the Boon should be usable more than once per day. I'd grant it once per day per point you can use.

That way, it becomes less of a tactical decision when you first use it and a lot of your potential power comes online. You grab the first thing you can, to fully unlock your features, then hope something meaner, bigger comes along to truly fuel your might.

The Max HP thing... I think it's too low level for what it does, and meaningless in games where people already max their hit dice.
It's basically +3.5 hp/level. 3.5 feat-equivalent power at level 2.

Instead, grant the class Improved Toughness at separate intervals (I could also suggest altering the class' base hit dice at those intervals, but having to reroll all those dice is an awful idea)

Alternatively, make this a pool of temporary hit points that he has to recharge.

"As such, any creature that leaves the realm of the living is prone to leave some energy behind. The Gravesoul Warrior learns to tap into this energy and uses it to fuel his own, strengthening himself.

As an immediate action when a living creature falls unconscious or dies within 30ft of the Gravesoul, he can absorb its remaining vitality. This kills any unconscious victim, and adds to his pool of Life Untapped an amount equal to the creature's hit dice, up to a maximum of three times his Gravesoul level.

As a swift action, he can spend any amount of points in this pool to gain temporary hit points equal to the points spent for the next minute.

Once he reaches 8th level, the temporary hit points he grants himself do not fade until he next rests, and he can grant some to any ally he can touch as a standard action.

At 16th level, his ability to control untapped life forces becomes unparalleled, granting the same amount of temporary hit points to any ally within 5ft any time he grants himself some."

This is a rather wordy way of going about, and I'm not quite sure that a maximum of 3 times his level isn't too high and shouldn't be lowered to twice. It also makes binding the Grave Gate to make temporary hit points more permanent that much better.

I had charging the ability require an action because it's sensibly stronger than the Monk's Wholeness. Then again, comparing ANYTHING to Monk SHOULD feel a tad supercharged.

[LairdMaon]

A thought just hit me...

What if Sneak Attack, Life Sense and similar Features became receptacles and were dependent on having essentia invested to become powered up?

Fluff would say that these receptacles are merely husks to be empowered by the essentia of one's own soulstuff. Without that personal investment there is no benefit from them.

With this idea each point of essentia becomes more valuable. Gaining more of it through the deaths of others would become a greater priority to the Gravesoul.

Could take it a step further. Take away the base abilities from all gravemelds and require that essentia be invested to gain any power at all from them.

[Morphic tide]

A thought just hit me...

What if Sneak Attack, Life Sense and similar Features became receptacles and were dependent on having essentia invested to become powered up?

Fluff would say that these receptacles are merely husks to be empowered by the essentia of one's own soulstuff. Without that personal investment there is no benefit from them.

With this idea each point of essentia becomes more valuable. Gaining more of it through the deaths of others would become a greater priority to the Gravesoul.

Could take it a step further. Take away the base abilities from all gravemelds and require that essentia be invested to gain any power at all from them.

Nice idea, both this exact thing of having non-Soulmeld class features depend on Essentia investment and the class's general theme of being an Undead based Essentia base class. I have a few issues with the mechanics, among them being the use of an impossible to unbind Soulmeld as a class feature. And that the grammar of the first post is kinda bad. Understandable, but I spend a year trying to get into the big FF.net fandoms, so I can comprehend some truly horrific grammar.

But that's all I see. Nice ideas. Vitality of Undeath would be useful as something for a d6 class meant to be in melee to de-squishy them later on, but it lacks wording to restrict it to Graveborn Warrior levels, so it'll draw d12 classes to dip like mad for that sweet HP. Channel Undeath is both inappropriately named and not actually that useful, as the Soulmelds you've written grant a maximum of two Touch Attacks because so many are on the Arm Chakra. The Soulmelds are all over the place, with non-indicative names being plentiful.

And then there's my standard complaint of "why is there only one of this? The idea can work for X number of classes." In this case, the answer is "new Homebrewer, not able to work out enough for more than one class on the spot." I saw this and instantly came up with the start of multiple different classes the moment I saw that it was Incarnum. But that's me having the opinion that all ideas should either have enough mutual exclusivity in abilities to force specialization or that all ideas should have multiple classes for them. Very unusual opinion of mine, I might add. It's largely because of my hatred for subsystems being restricted to a single class, or a single class doing basically literally everything.

Some suggestions:

To make the class use Devourer's Boon frequently, and thus be screwing with souls frequently, have it so that Devourer's Boon gives Essentia based on the normal Essentia Capacity cap, using hit dice instead of character level. So killing and traping the soul of a 5 hit die creature can only give you one Essentia, and that point doesn't stack. Killing an 18 HD creature, meanwhile, will give you an extra 4 Essentia to a Soulmeld. And if you unbind a Soulmeld, then you lose the soul you have in it and need to put another in. Keep the essentia cap bypass, it's a nice way to make it always useful.

In terms of Soulmelds, I'd prefer there to be two categories of abilities. Touch-attack and buffing Undead. In terms of Touch-attack, you can do a surprising number of things. Ghouls have both a paralysing touch and a disease to spread, for example. Buffing Undead can come in two forms: The caster type, where you use negative energy to heal them and get Undead control and Undead specific buffs, or you can put those low-strength souls to work as fuel for Necrocarnum Zombies made with some Grave Gate chakra bind and get Soulmelds and Chakra Binds that let you buff said Zombies based on the Essentia they have. You can also have a focus on Incarnum-generated/improved weapons/armor, but that's not really fitting with anything other than Lich and related Phylactery-type Undead, like Graveknights, who essentially use their armor as their phylactery. Although even just two Soulmelds can make for a decent theme, provided you make sure they are compatible.

I'd prefer the class to have a Totem chakra instead of a Heart chakra, so that you have a chakra to bind at level one for more choices in Soulmelds at 1st level, and Totem fits having Soulmelds based on particular Undead better than Heart. You can put the "make Necrocarnum Zombie from Devourer's Boon Essentia" effect for Grave Gate here. It also gives you some things to fill table space with, by letting you add stuff to the Totem Chakra. Like being able to have a use of Devourer's Boon attached to the Chakra itself rather than the Soulmeld.

I'm seriously tempted to just post my own variation on the idea of Undead themed Incarnum classes using this as a basis, at this point. But I have multiple other homebrew things waiting to be done. Like a complete replacement of Truenaming to turn it into pure skill-based casting. And turning Shadowdancer into a base class. And making more AFCs for a homebrew contest entry of mine.

Screw it, have a Soulmeld:

Graveknight's Dominion
These stubborn monsters and damned servants are known to have their souls tied to their armor. Calling on the husks of twisted souls of these beings can allow one to create an echo of the armor their souls once bound to, as well as take on their destructive prowess or replicate the dominion over lesser Undead.
When shaped and with at least one Essentia invested, this Soulmeld takes the form of a translucent suit of Banded Mail, fitted perfectly to the Meldshaper, looking like it was cobbled together from many styles of plate, chain and splint mail. The collage of armors is abnormally well-integrated, and it thus counts as Masterwork, and it's nature as a construct of Incarnum energies makes it act as if it were Ghost Touch. Each point of Essentia invested in this soulmeld grants the wearer a +1 Enhancement bonus to AC.

Arm Chakra:
The nature of a Graveknight born of stubborn monstrousness is that of refusing death, staining the soul with an echo of it's demise. For those whose deaths were not of elemental natures, their sins lead their souls to touch the flames of the Lower Planes, taking on an incendiary turn. For those who become Graveknights as a matter of service to a Lich or other potent necrotic patron, their nature is that of embracing Death, and their power is thus that of pure Negative Energy
When bound to the Arm Chakra and with at least one Essentia invested, the Meldshaper's arms are covered in a flickering nimbus of necromantic and elemental energies, shimmering with acidic greens, burning reds and oranges, shocking whites and freezing blues, with a roiling shell of rotting blacks. For each point of Essentia invested in this Soulmeld, the Meldshaper's Natural Attacks, Unarmed Attacks and melee Touch Attacks deal an additional 1d6 damage. Half this damage is evenly split between Acid, Fire, Electricity and Cold, while the other half is dealt as Negative Energy. Either the Negative Energy or the Acid, Fire, Electricity and Cold damage can be suppressed, but not both.

Brow Chakra:
The savage sinners who become Graveknights develop the ability to command the undead by imposing their unholy will upon them, dragging lesser undead to follow them in their cruelties. The loyal servants of greater necrotic beings who become Graveknights are either granted their power over lesser Undead by their master or it is granted by the spells binding their spirit to the armor they wear
When bound to the Brow Chakra and with at least one Essentia invested, the Meldshaper's head is enclosed in a helm shrouded in necrotic energy, obscuring their features in totality. As a standard action, the Meldshaper may attempt to control an Undead creature if at least one Essentia is invested in this Soulmeld. Nonintelligent Undead do not receive a saving throw, but Intelligent Undead make a Will save with a DC of 10+invested Essentia+the Meldshaper's Constitution score. The Meldshaper may control Undead with a maximum total hit dice of their Meldshaper level, with control lasting as long as this Soulmeld remains shaped. Intelligent Undead receive an additional save at dusk each day.

[LairdMaon]

Gravesoul

"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live."
-Norman Cousins

Class Benefits

Spoiler

Show

Hit Die: D8
Skill Points: 4 + Int modifier
Class Skills

• Balance (Dex)
• Climb (Str)
• Concentration (Con)
• Intimidate (Cha)
• Jump (Str)
• Knowledge (Religion) (Int)
• Knowledge (the Planes) (Int)
• Listen (Wis)
• Profession (Wis)
• Search (Int)
• Speak Language
• Spot (Wis)
• Swim (Str)
• Tumble (Dex)

Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
Gravesoul are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields).

Table: Gravesoul						Meldshaping
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Class Features	Soulmelds	Essentia	Chakra Binds
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Grave Gate, Tomb-Tainted Soul	2	1	0
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Chakra Bind (Hand), Vitality of Undeath	3	1	1
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Chanel Undeath, Corpse Conversion	3	2	1
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Bonus Feat	4	2	1
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Chakra Binds (Crowns, Feet)	4	3	1
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	Devourer's Boon 1pt	4	3	2
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Corpse Conversion	5	4	2
8th	+6/+1	+6	+2	+6	Bonus Feat	5	4	2
9th	+6/+1	+6	+3	+6	Chakra Binds (Arms, Brow, Shoulder)	6	5	3
10th	+7/+2	+7	+3	+7	Entropic Blade	6	5	3
11th	+8/+3	+7	+3	+7	Corpse Conversion	6	6	3
12th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	Devourer's Boon 2pt, Bonus Feat	6	6	3
13th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	Chakra Binds (Throat, Waist)	7	7	3
14th	+10/+5	+9	+4	+9	—	7	8	4
15th	+11/+6/+1	+9	+5	+9	Corpse Conversion	7	9	4
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	Bonus Feat	8	10	4
17th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	Chakra Bind (Heart)	8	11	4
18th	+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+11	Devourer's Boon 3pt	8	12	5
19th	+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+11	Corpse Conversion	9	13	5
20th	+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+12	Undead Scion, Living Lich	9	14	5

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2.1 Class Features

[COLOR="#000000"] Meldshaping ι 1 ι

• A Gravesoul's primary ability is shaping incarnum soulmelds, which are drawn from the gravesoul soulmeld list below. You know and can shape any soulmeld from this list. Unlike the aligned forces of an incarnate's melds, your soulmelds channel the necrotic spirits of undeath.
  
• The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a gravesoul soulmeld is 10 + number of points of essentia invested in the soulmeld + your Constitution modifier. Your meldshaper level is equal to your gravesoul level.
  
• A gravesoul can shape only a certain number of soulmelds per day. Your base daily allotment is given on Table: Gravesoul. The maximum number of soulmelds that you can have shaped simultaneously is equal to your Constitution score minus 10 or the number of soulmelds on the table, whichever is lower. At 1st level, you can shape two soulmelds at a time (assuming you have a Constitution score of at least 12). As you advance in level, you can shape an increasing number of soulmelds.
  
• At 1st level, you also gain access to your personal pool of essentia, which can be invested into your soulmelds to increase their power. Your essentia pool's size is shown on Table: Gravesoul. Your character level, as noted on the Essentia Capacity table, determines the maximum quantity of essentia that you can invest in any single soulmeld. As a swift action, you can reallocate your essentia investments in your soulmelds every round (Essentia, Magic of Incarnum, page 50).
  
• A Gravesoul does not study or prepare soulmelds in advance, but must have a good night's rest and must meditate for 1 hour to shape his soulmelds for the day (see Shaping Soulmelds, Magic of Incarnum, page 49).

Essentia Capacity
Character Level	Essentia Capacity
1st-5th	1
6th-11th	2
12th-17th	3
18th-20th	4

Grave Gate ι 1 ι
At first level gains his connection to the soul-stuff of the undead.

• The Gravesoul gets this soulmeld as a permanent meld shape, and if an effect would normally unshape the soulmeld, it is instead suppressed. This does not count against number of soulmelds shaped.

Tomb-Tainted Soul ι 1 ι

• At 1st level, the gravesoul gains Tomb-Tainted Soul (Libris Mortis: The Book of the Dead, pg. 31) as a bonus feat.

Chakra Binds: ι 2 ι

• 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, Magic of Incarnum, 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: Gravesoul). 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.

For more information on chakra binds, see Magic of Incarnum, page 51.

Vitality of Undeath(Ex}: ι 2 ι

• At 2nd level, a Gravesoul receives max hit points per Gravesoul level. All his past hit die are converted to max hit points as well.

Channel Undeath(Su}: ι 3 ι

• Beginning at 3rd level, you can use a standard action to use any touch attack or cast any touch spell you know and deliver the effect through your weapon with a melee attack. Using a touch attack or casting a spell in this manner does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The spell must have a casting time of 1 standard action or less. If the melee attack is successful, the attack deals damage normally; then the effect of the touch attack or spell is resolved.
• At 13th level, you can cast any touch attack or touch spell you know as part of a full attack action, and the touch attack or spell affects each target you hit in melee combat that round. Doing so discharges the spell at the end of the round, in the case of a touch spell that would otherwise last longer than 1 round.

Corpse Conversion ι 4 ι

• Every 4th level beginning at 3, the Gravesoul's body reacts to the heavy quantities of necromantic energies flowing through it. Choose one undead graft from the following list at each level: 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19. Bonuses from these graft stack.

Spoiler: Corpse Conversion Grafts

Show

Bonemail: Bonemail resembles armor crafted from interlocking bones and shards of bone, but it is actually part of the grafted creature's body. Bonemail grants a +2 natural armor bonus to the grafted creature's AC.

Enervating Arm: An enervating arm is a gaunt limb of dessicated, leathery flesh. It grants a +4 inherent bonus to the grafted creature's Strength. Twice per day, the grafted creature can use an enervating touch to bestow one negative level on a living creature. Removing the negative level requires a DC 14 Fortitude save. A touch that misses does not count against the daily limit.

Eye of Flame: This crimson eye-shaped gem fits into a humanoid creature's empty eye socket and can produce a*fireball*once per day upon command. The*fireball*deal 10d6 points of damage (Reflex DC 14 half). Half of the damage is fire damage, and the other half is divine damage that affects even targets resistant to fire.

Mohrg's Tongue: This long, cartilaginous tongue bears sharp claws at its tip. The grafted creature can make touch attacks with the tongue (treat it as a secondary weapon). A successful touch paralyzes the target for 1d4 minutes (Fortitude DC 17 negates).

Mummified Eye: This hard, round orb fits into a humanoid creature's empty eye socket and looks much like a normal eye at first glance, but it has a distinctly dry appearance and does not move in the socket. The grafted creature can use the*eyebite*spell as a 12th-level caster once per day.

Mummified Hand: This withered hand is swathed in the remnants of funereal wrappings. The grafted creature can use the mummified hand to deliver a slam attack; the damage dealt is the same as that dealt by a zombie of the creature's size. In addition, three times per day the grafted creature can deliver mummy rot with a slam attack. The choice to use mummy rot must be made before the attack is rolled; if the attack misses, the daily use is lost. The Fortitude save to resist the mummy rot is DC 16.

Paralyzing Arm: A paralyzing arm is a hardy limb of preserved undead flesh. It grants a +4 inherent bonus to the grafted creature's Strength. Twice per day, the grafted creature can use a paralyzing touch. A living creature touched must make a Fortitude save (DC 14) or be paralyzed for 1d6+2 minutes. Elves are immune to this paralyzing touch. A touch that misses does not count against the daily limit.

Skeletal Hand: The grafted creature can use this bony hand to make claw attacks. The damage dealt is the same as that dealt by a skeleton of the creature's size.

Undead Skin: This mottled gray hide grants the grafted creature 25% resistance to critical hits and sneak attacks, similar to*armor of light fortification. This resistance doesn't stack with similar abilities.

Vampiric Fangs: This set of sharp teeth replaces the creature's existing teeth. The grafted creature gains the ability to drain blood from a living victim with its fangs by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution damage each round. On each such successful drain attack, the grafted creature gains 5 temporary hit points that last for up to 1 hour.

Weakening Arm: A weakening arm is a skeletal forelimb that grants a +4 inherent bonus to the grafted creature's Strength. Twice per day, the grafted creature can use a weakening touch. A living creature touched takes 1d6 points of Strength damage. A touch that misses does not count against the daily limit.

Bonus Feats ι 4/8/12/16/20 ι

• At 4th level, a Gravesoul gains a bonus feat off the the Fighter bonus feat list. He must qualify for the feat before taking it.
• The gravesoul gains an additional bonus feat every 4 class levels thereafter.

Devourer’s Boon(Su) ι 6 ι

• Once per day, you may trap the essence of a living creature who dies within 30ft of you.
• The trapped essence provides you with a number of Grave Essentia equal to 1/2 the creature's HD (maximum class level). Grave Essentia fades when you reshape soulmelds, and does not stack (you may only have 1 trapped essence at once). It may be assigned to the same benefit as regular Essentia, and reallocated as part of the same swift action.
• Grave Essentia does not count against maximum essentia invested in a given receptacle, but instead has its own limit based on class level. At 6th level, you may invest 1 point of Grave Essentia into a given receptacle. At 12th level, this increases to 2 points, and to 3 points at 18th level.
• A creature whose essence you trap cannot be resurrected until you reshape soul melds or trap another essence.

Entropic Blade ι 10 ι

• Once per day for every four levels (rounded down), the Gravesoul may empower his weapon with some of the purest death imaginable. The result is called the Entropic Blade. When the Gravesoul successfully deals damage with its entropic blade, the victim must make a Fortitude save or be overcome with searing pain, as the victim’s form melts, flows, writhes, and boils. During this entropic state, the victim cannot cast spells or use magic items, and it attacks blindly, unable to distinguish friend from foe (–4 penalty on attack rolls and a 50% miss chance, regardless of the attack roll). Each round spent in this entropic state, the victim takes 1 point of Wisdom drain from mental shock. If the victim’s Wisdom score falls to 0, it discorporates into nothingness. A victim can gain control over itself by taking a standard action to attempt a Charisma check. Success renders the victim immune from the entropic state for 1 minute. On a failure, the victim can still repeat this check each round until successful. The entropic state is not a disease or a curse, so it is hard to remove. A shapechange or stoneskin spell does not cure an afflicted creature but fixes its state for the duration of the spell. A restoration,heal, or greater restoration spell removes the affliction (though a separate restoration is necessary to restore any drained points of Wisdom). The save DC is Charisma-based. If the Entropic Blade stack misses, it still counts against the daily allotment.

Undead Scion ι 20 ι

• At 20th level, you gain the ability to make your body a conduit for profane energies. This greatly empowers all of your soulmelds. For the duration of this ability, all of your soulmelds are treated as having 2 more essentia invested in them than they already do (this cannot surpass your maximum essentia capacity).
  
• Activating this ability is a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. It can be used once per day and lasts for a number of minutes equal to your Constitution bonus (minimum 1).

Living Lich ι 20 ι
The Gravesoul has grown beyond life. He becomes a living lich as the Grave Gate subsumes his vitality.
The Gravesoul gains the Lich template with the following changes:

• Loses the lich negative energy attack.
• Loses lich fear aura.
• Loses lich DR.
• Keeps meldshaping.
  
• The Grave Gate changes fundamentally as it becomes akin to a phylactery. It can now be dispelled at a difficulty of (HD+Con+the number of soulmelds shaped). If the Grave Gate is dispelled, it reshapes in 1d4 rounds automatically. During that time, the Gravesoul has no Constitution score like any other undead and death is permanent.

Soulmeld List