Chapter 2: Classes

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haracters of any class can learn to use incarnum through feats, racial substitution levels, spells, and possibly other means. The true masters of incarnum, however, are those who advance in one of the new classes presented in this chapter. By taking levels in these classes, characters learn the art of meldshaping, harness their essentia to invest into soulmelds or other powers, bind soulmelds to their chakras, and gain a variety of other capabilities from their use of incarnum.

THE CLASSES

The three meldshaping classes, in the order they are presented in this chapter, are as follows:

Incarnate: A powerful meldshaper who embodies the precepts of good, evil, chaos, or law.

Soulborn: A meldshaper and a martial character who wields incarnum in the cause of one of the four extreme alignments.

Totemist: A meldshaper who wields the energy of the souls of nature, revering magical beasts as totem creatures and mimicking their powers. Essentia is primarily derived from class levels of meldshaping classes, but can also be gained from other sources. Essentia stacks, even if gained from multiple sources such as class levels, racial traits, or feats. A 6th-level duskling incarnate with the Bonus Essentia feat has 9 points of essentia (1 for his race, 6 for his class, and 2 for the feat) in his essentia pool.

Essentia Capacity

However large your essentia pool is, you can only invest a certain amount of essentia into any one soulmeld, feat, class feature, magic item, or other incarnum receptacle. Your character level determines this essentia capacity, as shown on the table below.

Table 2–1: Essentia Capacity

Character Level Essentia Capacity

1st–5th 1 6th–11th 2 12th–17th 3 18th–20th 4

THE ESSENTIA POOL

Incarnum-wielding characters, whether meldshapers or merely those with special abilities that harness incarnum, depend on their personal incarnum, called essentia, to power their abilities. A character’s store of personal incarnum is his essentia pool. Incarnates and totemists both have class features that expand this capacity for all or certain soulmelds. See the class descriptions later in this chapter. Certain feats, prestige classes, and magic items can increase a meldshaper’s capacity as well.