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The below article was written by the author of High Psionics: Soulknives to clarify some questions and to also add more support for the Soul Bastion. Please feel free to submit comments, feedback, and questions on this article.

Soul Bastions Expanded
by Philip J Leco, II

Within High Psionics: Soulknives, a new class was presented for use – the soul bastion. A twist on the soulknife, forming armor instead of a weapon, the soul bastion was actually the last piece of mechanics to be added to the supplement. Due to oversight by myself (the author), certain rules presented within the supplement seem to contradict the rules for the soul bastion.
Within this article, you will find both explanations of how the soul bastion functions with these new rules and several new options just for the soul bastion. You will also find soul bastion versions of some of soulknife’s crystal hilts.
I hope you enjoy what’s here, and my apologies for any confusion caused by my oversight.

New and Existing Rules and the Soul Bastion

Mindscapes Psionic Combat
If you are using the Mindscapes psionic combat system presented in Hyperconscious: Explorations in Psionics, you will need to know that the soul bastion, like the soulknife, uses the good mode check progression

Kensai Feats
The kensai feats presented in High Psionics: Soulknives were written before the concept of the soul bastion, and were not edited to account for this new addition, as they are clearly aimed at the soulknife. As such, there has been some minor confusion as to how the two intereact.
The mind armor referenced by many kensai feats is not that granted by the soul bastion mind armor class feature. Mind armor in kensai feats is in reference to the armor granted by the Soul Armor feat.
That said, introduced below are some feats along the lines of the kensai feats for the soul bastion.

Soul Bastions and Prestige Classes
Sometimes, a soul bastion may qualify for a prestige class with "+1 level of existing manifesting class" as part of a normal class benefit. This increased psionic training helps those who follow the path of the mind armor as well as the path of the manifester. At each level where a manifester level would increase by one, treat the soul bastion as if he had gained a level of soulknife for the purposes of the Mind Armor and Mind Armor Enchancement class features.
It's less common, but sometimes a multiclass soul bastion enters one of these prestige classes with a bit of manifesting talent. In this special case, each indicated level of the prestige class advances both the soul bastion's mind armor and mind armor enhancement class features as above, and his existing manifesting prowess by one level. If a soul bastion has levels of soulknife upon entering such a class, all of his abilities advance.

Feats for the Soul Bastion
This section contains numerous feats for the soul bastion, both single and multi-classed. It also introduces a new type of feat: Mind Armor. All mind armor feats require the Mind Armor class feature to function, and increase your effective soul bastion level by 1 for purposes of your mind armor’s enhancement bonus and the mind armor enhancement class feature.

Adamantine Mind Armor
Your mind armor is seemingly impervious to destruction.
Prerequisite: Mind Armor class feature
Benefit: Treat your mind armor as though it were adamantine for the purposes of hardness and hit points.
Special: This does not change the effects of the Improved Mind Armor class feature. Upon gaining this class feature, your mind armor benefits from the benefits of both adamantine and mithral.

Enchant Mind Shield/Spikes [Mind Armor]
You greatly increase the ability of your mind shield/spikes.
Prerequisite: Improved Mind Shield/Spikes class feature
Benefit: Your mind shield/spikes gain(s) a separate enchantment bonus from the enhancement bonus granted by the Improved Mind Shield/Spikes ability. This functions as the Improved Mind Armor class feature, allowing you to use the enchantment bonus to give your shield/spikes abilities from the table while retaining the enhancement bonus from the Improved Mind Shield/Spikes class feature. The enchantment bonus is equal to the enhancement bonus granted by the Improved Mind Shield/Spikes class feature minus 1 (minimum 1).

Master Armor [Mind Armor]
Your mind armor displays strength beyond any other.
Prerequisites: Mind armor class feature
Benefit: Any mind armor you create has its armor bonus increased by 1, its Armor Check Penalty reduced by 1, and its Max Dex bonus increased by 2.
Special: You may take this feat up to three times. Its effects stack.

Master Shield [Mind Armor]
Your mind shield displays strength beyond any other.
Prerequisites: Mind shield class feature
Benefit: Any mind shield you create has its shield bonus to armor class increased by 2.
Special: You may take this feat up to three times. Its effects stack.

Master Spikes [Mind Armor]
Your mind spikes hold power greater than any other.
Prerequisites: Mind spikes class feature
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all rolls involving your mind spikes.
Special: You may take this feat up to three times. Its effects stack.

Mind Armor Dedicate
You do not allow your swerving from the path of the soul bastion to weaken your mind armor.
Prerequisites: Mind shield or Mind spike ability
Benefits: Add four to your effective soul bastion level for the purposes of determining your mind armor’s enhancement bonus and the mind armor enhancement class feature, to a maximum of your character level.
The increased effective level stacks where applicable to the increase in effective soul bastion level from prestige classes.
Special: If you take levels in a class that provides similar abilities, the extra levels stack where applicable.
These additional levels do not apply to the Improved Mind Shield/Spikes ability. However, you may choose this feat a second time to gain its benefits both for the automatic upgrades included in the Mind Shield/Spikes ability and the Improved Mind Shield/Spikes ability.

Mind Shield
You have bypassed the limit on shield or spike, forcing enough strength for both.
Prerequisites: Mind spikes class feature, improved mind spikes class feature
Benefit: You may now form a mind shield as well as spikes. Your mind shield is treated as formed by a soul bastion four levels lower than you for purposes of its AC bonus and the Improved Mind Shield class feature.
Normal: A soul bastion must choose between a shield or spikes upon gaining the Mind Shield/Spikes class feature.

Mind Spikes
You have bypassed the limit on shield or spike, forcing enough strength for both.
Prerequisites: Mind shield class feature, improved mind shield class feature
Benefit: You may now form mind spikes as well as a shield. Your mind spikes are treated as formed by a soul bastion four levels lower than you for purposes of damage and the Improved Mind Spikes class feature.
Normal: A soul bastion must choose between a shield or spikes upon gaining the Mind Shield/Spikes class feature.

Mind Warrior
To you, there is no greater power than that of your own mind. You have brought yourself to shun normal equipment, trusting in your own strength to supply what you need.
Prerequisites: Mind Armor class feature, Mind Blade class feature
Benefits: Your levels in soulknife and soul bastion stack for the purposes of determining the enhancement bonuses of both your mind armor and mind blade, but not for the mind armor enhancement or mind blade enhancement class features.
Special: If you are using the variant soulknife presented in Untapped Potential: New Horizons in Psionics, only half of your levels count for the purposes of determining the enhancement bonus, due to the modified progression of the mind blade.

Shape Armor [Mind Armor]
You have learned to form armor beyond that of others.
Prerequisites: Mind armor class feature
Benefit: Choose one type of armor you are proficient with. You may now choose to have your mind armor function as though it were a masterwork version of that armor. This works like the Alter Mind Armor class feature, but does not require the Alter Mind Armor ability to function.
Normal: A soul bastion may only form his mind armor to mimic a masterwork chain shirt.

Spiked Fists
Your armor spikes are no longer only useful in a grapple.
Prerequisite: Mind Spikes class feature
Benefit: You may now make an unarmed strike as though wielding a spike gauntlet. All bonuses you may have to your mind spikes apply to these attacks (including any assigned enchantments).

Untouchable
Nothing, living or dead, can break through your defenses.
Prerequisites: Mind armor enhancement +3
Benefit: When you have the ghost touch enhancement assigned to your mind armor (or mind shield), you retain its protection against all touch attacks, not merely attacks from incorporeal creatures.
Normal: The ghost touch enhancement only applies against attacks from incorporeal creatures.

Crystal Armor – The Soul Bastion’s Hilts

In this section you will find rules detailing crystal pauldrons, crystal plates, crystal bracers, and crystal doublets. All of these items are created in the same manner as crystal hilts, and serve the soul bastion in much the same manner.

Crystal pauldrons may be enchanted as armor, and increase the abilities of a soul bastion’s mind armor. Crystal pauldrons take up the mantle slot.

Crystal plates may be enchanted as armor and/or as weapons. They enhance a soul bastion’s mind armor or mind spikes, respectively. If enchanted as weapons, they have the same costs as crystal hilts. Crystal plates take up the armor slot.

Crystal braces may be enchanted as shields, and enchance a soul bastion’s mind shield. They take up the bracers slot.

Crystal doublets are typically made of a durable cloth, inlaid with deep crystal in areas armor might normally expose (due to joints built into the armor, etc). They may be enchanted as weapon and enhance a soul bastion’s mind spikes. They take up the vest slot.

Enchanting Crystal Armor

Enchanting crystal armor functions exactly as enchanting a crystal hilt, with lower costs. Enchanting crystal doublets and crystal plates designed to empower mind spikes comes with the same costs as enchanting crystal hilts. These items cannot be enhanced with any of the new crystal hilt enhancements except the enlarging enhancement.
To determine the cost of adding a special ability to crystal armor, multiply the bonus squared times 700 (1,400 for mind spikes). For example, bashing is a +1 bonus and costs 700 gp. As with standard armor, additional bonuses are added together. For example, quickness and blinding are both +1 bonuses, for a total of +2 (ignoring enhancement bonuses). This leads to a total cost of 2,800 gp.
Any enhancement with a set gp cost instead of an equivalent bonus has that cost reduced by 30%. For example, cold resistance is normally 18,000 gp. To add it to a crystal pauldron would cost 12,600.
Adding a special ability to crystal armor uses the same rules for increasing item enhancements, only paying the difference between the existing item and the intended item. For example, turning a crystal bracer of bashing into a ranged bashing bracer would cost the difference between a +1 and a +2 crystal bracer, or 2,100 gp. Upgrading from cold resistance to improved cold resistance (12,600 to 29,400 after the 30% discount) would cost 16,800 gp.

Crystal Gauntlets and the Spiked Fists Feat
While crystal weapons are out of reach for most soul bastions, there is one exception to this rule. A soul bastion with the Spiked Fists feat may use crystal gauntlets to enhance his mind spikes (and, in turn, his unarmed strikes).

How does the Mind Warrior feat interact with the Variant Soulknife presented in Untapped Potential? My group is using the Variant SK, as well as a variant Soul Bastion based on the same concept of one "enhancement" progression.

The simple way would be to make this feat stack for both, but that is more powerful than the feat is currently written.

Finally, does anyone else think that a VoP SK/SB has a fair chance of addressing the drawbacks of the Vow?

Hrm, that's a good question.

That is definitely more powerful.

The simple fix would be if using such a variant, only count half the levels. But I'm not sure if that's the right fix.

I'll email Phil.

Half of the levels of the opposite class? So, if I understand correctly, a SK 4/SB 4 would count as a level six for the purposes of both mindblade and mind armor enhancements. And a SK 4/SB 6 would count as a level 7 SK and a level 8 SB, again only for the purpose of the enhancement bonus available. That would be more in line with the way the feat works with the normal SK and SB classes.

The more I think about it, the more this seems like an odd choice anyway. The 1st level mind armor ability is better than the soul armor granted by the feat of the same name (see more on the naming below), but the enhancement bonuses will be pretty close if we assume either just the Soul Armor feat or only 4 levels of Soul Bastion. Getting Improved Soul Armor or taking the 5th level of Soul Bastion really changes up both the enhancement bonus and the base armor bonus.

My gut reaction is that for a set of "free" (as in no gold cost) armor, the Soul Armor feats will give you a much better enhancement bonus on your armor without sacrificing mindblade progression. However, you burn your feats doing so and are pretty well relegated to the secondary fighter role. If you want to really tank it, stick with Soul Bastion and take Adamantine and some combat feats.


Now, for anyone laughing at me, yes I just realized that taking Mind Warrior, Mind Blade Kensai, and Mind Armor Dedicate would probably allow you to freely multiclass between the SK and SB, picking your focus without losing out much on the enhancement bonuses. Add in Shape Armor and you don't even need 5 levels of Soul Bastion to get the big armor types. A one-level dip and 2-4 feats, though.... hmmm.


Looks like another round of good options. I just argued myself into a "depends on the character and campaign" position.


Is there a different name that could be used for the Soul Armor feat? ki armor? I understand the Soul Bastion having mind armor is like a Soulknife have a mindblade. Having an alternative method of gaining the armor either needs to stick with the convention ("grants mind armor similar to a Soul Bastion, except in these ways:") or it needs to be called something very different to avoid confusion. Just my opinion. I realize the SB came around after the Soul Armor feats. If the HP compilation is already set in stone then don't worry about it.

A different name was something discussed initially and may need to be done to avoid confusion, although I'd prefer to change this article, rather than change the High Psionics release

Yeah, I understand not wanting to do a rename.

One other question: Many of the feats listed above require the mind armor class feature. What about using the Soul Armor feat as a replacement prerequisite?

I'm not sure if this would create a situation ripe for abuse, or if the feat cost of getting to probelmatic levels would just be too high. Can anyone point out any potential issues?

Sorry for not responding sooner. What would be the mechanical repercussions of such a change?

OK, I just want to say that I'm not ignoring everyone here. I've just missed this somehow (namely because I've just been waiting for Inner Eye articles to pop up, not looking in here to help with them).

I will try to address most of these questions tonight, when I am at home and on my computer with access to all of my materials.

I do wish to make a couple of changes to this article now, while I'm thinking about it.

1.) All of the Master X feats should say they can't be taken more than 3 times (just to play it safe).
2.) Master Shield should up the AC bonus by 2. Otherwise, there is no reason at all to take Master Shield, when you can take Master Armor instead.


For right now, that's all I've got, but I'll try to post again later on (this may be mildly difficult, as I'm in preparations for moving on Saturday).

I'm going to have to agree with Jeremy about counting 1/2 levels for the Mind Warrior feat. While I'm not 100% certain it's the best solution, I think it's the most balanced.

I'm honestly not sure what to do about the mind armor/Soul Armor prerequisite. My gut feeling says that the different mechanics should be handled separately. However, I also don't foresee too many mechanical complications, so it may not really be a problem.



On a side note, I'm also of the mind that if the Kensai feats are being used, the Soul Bastion shouldn't be (and vice versa), but as I haven't actually tried it in a campaign, it may not be an issue. People who've used my stuff more than I have would likely know better.

So, I'm going to take Phil's notes from above, edit the original article, see if anything else stands out to me, and consider this ready for posting unless someone posts otherwise.

Last call - this gets posted tomorrow!

In case you missed it, this is posted!