Way of the Soulknife

"My mind is a weapon." The student spoke quietly as she sprawled her arms out in either direction, her draping robes dipping to the ground with her meditation. "I am the master of my own psionic talents." The half-elf whispered to the mountainous air as a jet of white streamed from her lips. "My hands are my weapons, but I am not limited by the bounds of shackled reality." The air began to vibrate around both of her hands as they closed into squeezed tight fists, raw energy began to emanate with a dark red glow. "... For my mind is a weapon given shape." Suddenly, blinding blades of sheer energy erupt from her palms as red daggers in the night, melting the fresh snow that drips onto the latent power.

 

Never caught unarmed, the soulknife is the literal embodiment of using the power of the mind as a weapon. This warrior fights with the mind blade, a telekinetic field shaped by the wielder's intense focus into a razor's edge.

While the Soulknife may not appear to be a traditional monk, the path that these psionically-gifted individuals take is so similar as to be identical. A soulknife meditates, focuses, and develops the mind and body in the same way that any other monk does. Whether called "psi points" or ki, the soulnife's power is the inner energy made manifest.

[Credit due to the actual creator of the class/image noted in the class by RSquared and art by CharlesLogan]

 

 

 

Mind Blade

When you reach 3rd level, your study and meditation is rewarded in the forming of your mind blade, a semi-solid weapon of psychic energy powered by your will. You manifest your mind blade as a bonus action, and can dismiss it at will. The mind blade has the form of a one-handed weapon of your choice. It is a simple, melee weapon with 5-foot reach, deals 1d8 psychic damage on a hit, and has the finesse, light, and thrown properties (range 20/60).

You cannot be disarmed of your mind blade, but if you stop wielding it, your mind blade dissipates. When thrown, your mind blade dissipates immediately after the attack resolves. If you are targeted by, start your turn in, or enter an anti-magic effect (such as the anti-magic cone of a beholder's central eye), your blade dissipates or fails to manifest unless you succeed on a DC15 Wisdom saving throw to maintain it.

 

Wild Talent

At 3rd level, you manifest minor psionic gifts, often known as telepathy, telekinesis, photokinesis, and psychometry.

You learn two cantrips: light, and your choice of message or mage hand, with the following changes: light has a range of self, you do not need to speak or point when you cast message, and when you cast mage hand the hand is invisible. In addition, you can cast the spell identify as a ritual.

You cast your Wild Talent spells without components.

Mage Hand

Learn the cantrip mage hand. When you cast this cantrip, it is cast if it has invisibility. This requires no components to cast.

Message

Learn the Cantrip Mage Hand. This message does not require you to speak or point in order to cast it. This requires no components to cast.

Psionic Focus

Starting at 6th level, your mental focus during combat allows you to maintain a mental reserve of power - your psionic focus - which is recovered when you roll initiative.

At the start of your turn, you can recover your psionic focus by either reducing your speed to zero, or spending 1 ki point as a bonus action. You cannot recover focus when subject to a condition that reduces your speed to zero, such as paralysis.

 

Psychic Strike

 

Psychic Strike

When you hit a creature with your mind blade, you can expend your psionic focus to do one of the following:

• Neuroptic Blast. At the start of its next turn, the target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your ki save DC or be blinded until the end of its turn.
• Life Drain. You expend 1 ki point and regain a number of hit points equal to the damage of this attack plus your Wisdom modifier.
• Synaptic Overload. The target must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw against your ki save DC, or its speed is reduced to 0 until the end of its next turn.

 

Tower of Iron Will

Your battle meditation is impenetrable. While in combat, you can expend your psionic focus as a reaction to gain advantage on a Charisma, Intelligence, or Wisdom saving throw.

You must use this ability prior to rolling the saving throw.

Imbued Blade

Starting at 11th level, you manifest your mind blade as if you were drawing a weapon (i.e. object interaction).

As a bonus action, you can spend up to 3 ki points to enhance your mind blade, concentrating as if on a spell. Your mind blade gains a magical bonus to attack and damage rolls equal to the expended ki for ten minutes, or until your concentration ends.

Knife To The Soul

Beginning at 17th level, you ignore physical defenses with strikes of your mind blade. When you take the attack action, you can expend your psionic focus and forgo one or more of your mind blade and unarmed attacks this turn, forcing a creature adjacent to you to make a single Dexterity saving throw against a DC of 8 + your mind blade attack bonus.

For each attack you forgo, the target takes psychic damage equal to your mind blade's damage plus your Wisdom modifier, halved if it succeeds on the saving throw. This ability ignores resistance to psychic damage.