Incarnum Monk (3.5e Alternate Class Feature)

Zen Soul

This is a variant for the monk base class. This class uses the incarnum rules from Magic of Incarnum.

Class: Monk In The Dungeon

Level: 1st

Special: You may not take any levels in the standard monk class nor in the sublime monk variant if you use this alternate class feature.

Replaces: An incarnum monk doesn't gain the ki techniques feature nor a ki points progression. Its bonus feat feature changes.

Benefit: An incarnum monk gains fewer bonus feats: it gains one bonus feat at 1st, 7th and 17th level. In addition to its standard list, an incarnum monk may choose any incarnum-related feat.

At first level you gain the Meldshaping feature as an incarnate of your class level. You must choose where your soulmelds are drawn from: the incarnate and soulborn's list or the totemist's list. You may not change your choice.

You may use your Wisdom to determine the maximum number of souldmelds at any level instead of Constitution. You cannot shape soulmelds with an alignment descriptor that does not match your own. For example, if you are a lawful good monk, you cannot shape soulmelds with the chaotic or evil descriptors.

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

An incarnum monk can shape only a certain number of soulmelds per day. Your base daily allotment is given on Monk's Meldshaping Progression. The maximum number of soulmelds that you can have shaped simultaneously is equal to your Constitution or Wisdom (your choice) score minus 10 or the number of soulmelds allowed for your level, whichever is lower. At 1st level, you can shape two soulmelds at a time (assuming you have a Constitution or Wisdom 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 Monk's Meldshaping Progression. Your character level, as noted on Table: Essentia Capacity, 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.

An incarnum monk does not study or prepare soulmelds in advance, but must have a good night's rest and must meditate for 1 hour to shape its soulmelds for the day.

At 3rd level you gain the Chakra binds feature as an incarnate of your class level and all of its enhancements, except that you unlock first the feet and hands chakra and after that the crown and brow chakra (you unlock them in inverted order). The other chakras follow the incarnate's progression, except if you chose the totemist's soulmeld list: in this case the chakra bind progression is that of the totemist's (apart from the exceptions presented above). This feature improves at 5th, 10th, 14th and 17th.

Binding a soulmeld to a chakra closes the body slot associated with that chakra, 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 Monk's Meldshaping Progression).

Monk's Meldshaping Progression

Table: Monk's Meldshaping Progression

Level	Soulmelds	Essentia	Chakra Binds
1st	2	1	0
2nd	3	2	1
3rd	3	2	1
4th	4	3	1
5th	4	3	1
6th	4	4	2
7th	5	5	2
8th	5	5	2
9th	5	6	2
10th	6	7	3
11th	6	8	3
12th	6	9	3
13th	7	10	3
14th	7	11	4
15th	7	12	4
16th	8	13	4
17th	8	14	4
18th	8	16	5
19th	9	18	5
20th	9	20	5

Table: Essentia Capacity

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

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