In a hypothetical campaign where the PCs can only take classes from the XPH, how would the following class compare to the psywarrior? Also, what do you think of its combination of abilities and the levels at which they are given?
I wanted to keep the soul knife around but it is sub-par as we all know. I also wanted to kind of "gestalt in" parts of the monk and psychic rogue since I don't think any of those classes can quite stand on their own. I wanted to go this route instead of totally inventing a new set of abilities. Taking it in the direction of the soul knife + the psychic rogue seemed to result in a class whose abilities could work together without being one-trick, and it could serve more than one possible purpose. I envision this class being either the skirmisher, acrobat, thief, and/or skill monkey. This is a work in progress.
The Mindblade Roguehd: d8
skill points: 6
class skills: as psychic rogue
| Lvl | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Features | PP/ Day | Powers Known | Max Level |
| 1 | +0 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Weapon Finesse, Mind Blade, Weapon Focus | 0 | 1 | 1st |
| 2 | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | Bonus Feat, Throw Mind Blade, Evasion | 1 | 2 | 1st |
| 3 | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Dodge, Psychic Strike | 2 | 3 | 1st |
| 4 | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Mind Blade Enhancement | 4 | 3 | 1st |
| 5 | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Mobility, Free Draw, Shape Mind Blade | 6 | 4 | 2nd |
| 6 | +4 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Speed of Thought | 8 | 5 | 2nd |
| 7 | +5 | +2 | +5 | +5 | | 10 | 6 | 2nd |
| 8 | +6/+1 | +2 | +6 | +6 | Greater weapon focus | 12 | 6 | 2nd |
| 9 | +6/+1 | +3 | +6 | +6 | Improved evasion, Whirlwind Attack | 16 | 7 | 3rd |
| 10 | +7/+2 | +3 | +7 | +7 | Special Ability | 20 | 8 | 3rd |
| 11 | +8/+3 | +3 | +7 | +7 | | 24 | 9 | 3rd |
| 12 | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | Special Ability | 28 | 9 | 3rd |
| 13 | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | Knife to the Soul | 32 | 10 | 4th |
| 14 | +10/+5 | +4 | +9 | +9 | Special Ability | 40 | 11 | 4th |
| 15 | +11/+6/+1 | +5 | +9 | +9 | Adamantine Blade | 48 | 12 | 4th |
| 16 | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | Special Ability | 56 | 12 | 4th |
| 17 | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | | 64 | 13 | 5th |
| 18 | +13/+8/+3 | +6 | +11 | +11 | Special Ability | 76 | 14 | 5th |
| 19 | +14/+9/+4 | +6 | +11 | +11 | | 88 | 15 | 5th |
| 20 | +15/+10/+5 | +6 | +12 | +12 | Special Ability | 100 | 15 | 5th |
Powers: These should probably be INT-based, the list basically the same as the psychic rogue.
Weapon finesse: the feat
Mind Blade: As the soulknife ability. you can make a short sword.
Weapon Focus: with the mind blade or allow any weapon?
Bonus Feat: A fighter or psionic feat. (It's in here because the monk gets a bonus feat at 2nd level and the other abilities at this level are fairly tame. Should this be restricted to a smaller list like the monk?)
Throw Mind Blade: As the soulknife ability. you can throw your mindblade.
Evasion: As the rogue
Dodge: The feat (this is here as kind of a toned-down version of the monk's AC bonus and makes it easier to enter some Prcs. I recommend houserules to make the dodge bonus apply to all opponents)
Psychic Strike: As the soulknife ability. Spend move action to add 1d8 damage per four levels to your next attack.
Mind Blade Enhancement: As the soulknife ability. Mind blade gets +1 Enh per four levels plus +1 worth of special abilities every 5 levels.
Mobility: the feat (here for same reason as dodge, Prc requirements plus encourages the skirmisher/mobility role. I recommend a house rule that makes Mobility slightly better though)
Free Draw: As the soulknife ability, except you can now throw all your iterative attacks instead of waiting until 17th level, sheesh.
Shape Mind Blade: As the soulknife ability. You can make a long or bastard sword.
Speed of Though: The feat (another vestige of the monk's movement bonus, here to facilitate the class's possible roles)
Greater Weapon Focus: the feat.
Improved Evasion: Like the monk
Whirlwind Attack: the feat (replaces the soulknife's Bladewind, because aren't they the same thing?)
Special Abilities: choose from the following:
Skill mastery
Slippery Mind
Defensive Roll
Sneak attack: gain +2d6 sneak attack (I didn't want sneak attack to be a core part of the class)
Hide in plain sight (Ex)
Mettle?
Psi-like ability (Ps): choose one first level power you know to become a Ps ability useable at will. (this is here to allow perpetual access to things like Danger Sense or Catfall for those who want it)
Combat Finesse (Ex): You may use your Dex modifier instead of Str for combat maneuvers (trip, disarm, bullrush, etc.)
Knife to the Soul (Su): as the soulknife ability. You can give up a die of psychic strike to deal 1 point of damage to Int, Wis, or Cha. (Is this ability good enough? does tying it to psychic strike limit it too much?)
Adamantine Blade: The mindblade gains the hardness of adamantine and can bypass damage reduction and hardness as if it were adamantine. (Idea stolen from monk)
