Base Class: Rogue
Most assassins strike with physical weapons, and many burglars and spies use thieves' tools to infiltrate secure locations. In contrast, a Soulknife strikes and infiltrates with the mind, cutting through barriers both physical and psychic. These rogues discover psionic power within themselves and channel it to do their roguish work. They find easy employment as members of thieves' guilds, though they are often mistrusted by rogues who are leery of anyone using strange mind powers to conduct their business. Most governments would also be happy to employ a Soulknife as a spy.
Amid the trees of ancient forests on the Material Plane and in the Feywild, some wood elves walk the path of the Soulknife, serving as silent, lethal guardians of their woods. In the endless war among the gith, a githzerai is encouraged to become a Soulknife when stealth is required against the githyanki foe.
As a Soulknife, your psionic abilities might have haunted you since you were a child, only revealing their full potential as you experienced the stress of adventure. Or you might have sought out a reclusive order of psychic adepts and spent years learning how to manifest your power.
Psionic Power
Starting at 3rd level, you harbor a wellspring of psionic energy within yourself. This energy is represented by your Psionic Energy dice, which are each a d6. You have a number of these dice equal to twice your proficiency bonus, and they fuel various psionic powers you have, which are detailed below.
Some of your powers expend the Psionic Energy die they use, as specified in a power's description, and you can't use a power if it requires you to use a die when your dice are all expended. You regain all your expended Psionic Energy dice when you finish a long rest. In addition, as a bonus action, you can regain one expended Psionic Energy die, but you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
When you reach certain levels in this class, the size of your Psionic Energy dice increases: at 5th level (d8), 11th level (d10), and 17th level (d12).
The powers below use your Psionic Energy dice.
Soul Sight. Your constant exposure to soul energy allows you to see the souls of other creatures. While in darkness, your eyes glow faintly in the color of your soul. The glow of other souls appears as either a glow outlining them or as a concentration of color in their torso.You can see this glow in any lighting except magical darkness. You cannot see this glow if they are obscured by thick walls or large objects at least a foot thick. Different creatures have different colors of souls. The following list has examples of most creatures.
Aberrations - Bright Purple
Beasts - White
Celestial - Gold
Constructs - Varies. If the creator gave it a soul, it will appear coppery.
Dragons - Varies. If a dragon is good aligned, its soul is platinum. If a dragon is evil aligned, it is crimson.
Elementals - Varies. An elemental's soul reflects the plane that it came from.
- Plane of Fire: Fiery Red
- Plane of Water: Aquamarine
- Plane of Air: White with gray hints
- Plane of Earth: Mud Brown
Fey - Deep purple with specks of white
Fiends - Jet Black
Giants - Grey
Monstrosities - Varies. Usually it is a combination of other souls' colors.
Oozes - Oozes tend not to have a soul, unless a wizard created them with one. If so, the soul is mustard yellow.
Undead - Varies. Undead usually don't have souls. If they do, the color is that of the creature type they used to be.
Plants - Plant life doesn't commonly contain a soul. If by some circumstances they do, it would appear lime green.
Humanoids - Varies. Most humanoid souls are pale blue when they are born, but they change colors based on their personalities and talents. For example, a wizard might have a cobalt soul to represent a connection to arcana, an orc might have a dark red soul to represent its thirst for battle, etc.
As an action you expend a Psionic Energy dice to sense where all creatures with a soul within 60 feet of you are. If they are within 30 feet, you can also tell what color their soul is and their race. While you know the location of these creatures, you cannot have disadvantage on attack rolls that rely on sight.
Psychic Whispers. You can establish telepathic communication between yourself and others — perfect for quiet infiltration. As an action, choose one or more creatures you can see, up to a number of creatures equal to your proficiency bonus, and then roll one Psionic Energy die. For a number of hours equal to the number rolled, the chosen creatures can speak telepathically with you, and you can speak telepathically with them. To send or receive a message (no action required), you and the other creature must be within 1 mile of each other. A creature can't use this telepathy if it can't speak any languages, and a creature can end the telepathic connection at any time (no action required). You and the creature don't need to speak a common language to understand each other.
The first time you use this power after each long rest, you don't expend the Psionic Energy die. All other times you use the power, you expend the die.
Psychic Blades
At 3rd level, you can create a semisolid blade composed of pure soul energy produced from your inner being. You can wield up to two Soulblades at a time. Your Soulblade can take any weapon shape you choose as long as it has the light or finesse properties. You are also considered proficient with this weapon if you aren't already. The blade sheds dim light in a five foot radius in the color of your soul. The blade count as magical for the purposes of overcoming resistances and immunities. You may choose to use your Intelligence modifier for attack and damage rolls made with this weapon. The blade lasts until you dispel it or until it leaves your grip for more than three seconds. You can also throw your Soulblade as a ranged weapon with a range of 30/60 feet, regardless of whether or not the form has the thrown property.
Soul Blades
Starting at 9th level, your Psychic Blades become a manifestation of your psi-infused essence, granting you access to these abilities that consume your Psionic Energy dice:
Homing Strikes. Upon making an attack roll with your Psychic Blades and failing to hit the target, you can expend one Psionic Energy die and roll it. You add the number rolled to the attack roll. If this adjustment causes the attack to strike successfully, you utilize the Psionic Energy die.
Psychic Teleportation. Utilizing a bonus action, you conjure one of your Psychic Blades, expend a Psionic Energy die, and roll it. Subsequently, you hurl the blade toward an unoccupied space within your line of sight, covering a distance equivalent to 10 times the number rolled on the die. You then instantaneously teleport to that location, and the blade dissipates.
Psychic Veil
At 13th level, you gain the ability to envelop yourself in a shroud of psychic interference, concealing your presence. By using an action, you can magically turn invisible, along with any items you are wearing or carrying, for up to 1 hour or until you choose to end this effect (requiring no action). The invisibility terminates prematurely if you inflict damage upon a creature or compel a creature to make a saving throw.
Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before using it again, unless you expend a Psionic Energy die to activate it once more.
Rend Mind
At 17th level, you attain the ability to channel your Psychic Blade directly into a creature's mind. Upon using your Psychic Blades to inflict Sneak Attack damage on a creature, you can compel that target to attempt a Wisdom saving throw (DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier). If the save fails, the target becomes stunned for 1 minute. The stunned target can attempt the saving throw again at the end of each of its turns, terminating the effect on itself upon a success.
After using this feature, you must finish a long rest before using it again, unless you expend three Psionic Energy dice to activate it once more.