War Mind

War minds are almost unequaled experts of an incredibly powerful combat technique that melds the body and mind into one perfect warrior. They achieve this through studying ancient techniques known as the chains of war. Some study under the guidance of a single war mind, often in the role of apprentice and master; some choose to find this path through meditation and intense studies of the Codex of War, an ancient but well-respected tome that teaches the necessary mindset and training to awaken the chains of war in a psionically talented warrior.

Psychic warriors and soulknives are the most common to study the Codex of War and become war minds, although any character with psionic power can become a war mind.

Role: A war mind will stand at the front lines of a battle, meting out punishment and enduring the onslaught of enemies. He excels at melee combat and uses his manifesting ability to enhance his martial prowess.

Alignment: Any non-chaotic.

Hit Die: d10.

Requirements

To qualify to become a war mind, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +3.

Skills: Knowledge (history) 2 ranks, Knowledge (psionics) 5 ranks.

Psionics: Must have a power point reserve of at least 1 power point.

Special: Must have had some instruction by another war mind, have access to the Codex of War, or belong to an organization that has access to the Codex of War.

Class Skills

The war mind’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table: War Mind
Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Power Points/Day Powers Known Maximum Power Level Known
1st +1 +1 +1 +0 Chain of personal superiority +2, warrior’s journey 2 1 1st
2nd +2 +1 +1 +1 Chain of defensive posture +2 5 2 1st
3rd +3 +2 +2 +1 Enduring body (DR 1/-) 9 2 2nd
4th +4 +2 +2 +1 Well of power 14 3 2nd
5th +5 +3 +3 +2 Sweeping strike 20 3 3rd
6th +6 +3 +3 +2 Enduring body (DR 2/-) 28 4 3rd
7th +7 +4 +4 +2 Chain of personal superiority +4 37 4 4th
8th +8 +4 +4 +3 Chain of defensive posture +4 47 5 4th
9th +9 +5 +5 +3 Enduring body (DR 3/-) 58 5 5th
10th +10 +5 +5 +3 Chain of overwhelming force 70 6 5th

Class Features

All the following are class features of the war mind prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

War minds gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Power Points/Day

A war mind can manifest powers. His ability to manifest powers is limited by the power points he has available. His base daily allotment of power points is given on Table: The War Mind. In addition, he receives bonus power points per day if he has a high Wisdom score. His race may also provide bonus power points per day, as may certain feats and items. If a war mind has power points from a different class, those points are pooled together and usable to manifest powers from either class.

Powers Known

A war mind chooses his powers from the Psychic warrior power list. At 1st level, a war mind knows one Psychic warrior power of your choice. At every even-numbered level higher than 1st, he learns one new power. A war mind can manifest any power that has a power point cost equal to or lower than his manifester level. The total number of powers a war mind can manifest per day is limited only by his daily power points.

A war mind simply knows his powers; they are ingrained in his mind. He does not need to prepare them (in the way that some spellcasters prepare their spells), though he must get a good night’s sleep each day to regain all his spent power points.

The Difficulty Class for saving throws against war mind powers is 10 + the power’s level + the war mind’s Wisdom modifier.

Maximum Power Level Known: A war mind gains the ability to learn one 1st-level power when he takes his first level in the prestige class. As he attains each even-numbered level beyond 2nd, a war mind gains the ability to master more complex powers.

To learn or manifest a power, a war mind must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the power’s level.

Chain of Personal Superiority (Ex)

At 1st level, a war mind learns the first principle of warfare for the individual combatant: the ability to both deal punishment and take it. Calling upon inner reserves of knowledge and dedication, a war mind can provide himself with a +2 insight bonus to Strength and Constitution for up to 1 minute. A war mind can use this power three times per day. Activating this power is a free action. At 7th level, the insight bonus to Strength and Constitution improves to +4.

Warrior’s Journey (Ex)

If the war mind previously had manifesting in the Psychic warrior class, instead of gaining the war mind’s exclusive psionic manifestation abilities, he can choose to instead increase his Psychic warrior manifesting level. If he does so, the war mind gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if he had also gained a level in Psychic warrior. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, improved trances and maneuvers, and so on). This essentially means that he adds the level of war mind to the level of Psychic warrior, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly.

Chain of Defensive Posture (Ex)

At 2nd level, a war mind learns the second principle of warfare for the individual combatant: the ability to avoid the enemy’s counterattacks if that enemy is not immediately overwhelmed. Calling upon inner reserves of knowledge and dedication, a war mind can provide himself with a +2 insight bonus to Armor Class for up to 1 minute. A war mind can use this power three times per day. Activating this power is a free action. At 8th level, the insight bonus to Armor Class improves to +4.

Enduring Body (Ex)

At 3rd level, a war mind learns the third principle of warfare for the individual combatant: to unleash in oneself the spirit of the enduring body. The spirit of the ideal body transforms a war mind, granting him damage reduction 1/–. At 6th level, his damage reduction improves to 2/–. At 9th level, his damage reduction improves to 3/–.

Well of Power (Ex)

At 4th level, a war mind can tap his psionic energy to use chain of personal superiority or chain of defensive posture more than would normally be possible. If he has already expended all of his daily uses of either chain of personal superiority or chain of defense posture, he may spend 4 power points to gain an additional use of either ability. He can do this as many times as he wants in a day, provided he has power points left. At 10th level, he can expend his psionic focus and pay 10 power points to gain an additional daily use of chain of overwhelming force if he has already expended his daily use.

Sweeping Strike (Ex)

At 5th level, a war mind gains the ability to make great, sweeping swings with a melee weapon. On each melee attack a war mind makes, he can choose squares he threatens that are adjacent to each other, and his attacks apply to creatures in those two squares equally. A war mind can use this ability on any attack, even an attack of opportunity or a cleave attempt.

A war mind cannot use this ability if he has moved more than 10 feet since the end of his last turn. If a war mind hits one or both of his foes with a sweeping strike, he can attempt a cleave normally; however, he makes only one cleave attempt per sweeping strike, even if he successfully hits more than one foe.

Chain of Overwhelming Force (Su)

At 10th level, a war mind learns the fourth principle of warfare for the individual combatant: to discover the underlying violence of the world and deliver it in a perfectly executed attack.

The war mind taps into this underlying energy and apply it to a single melee attack, dealing an extra 10d6 points of damage. A war mind can use this power once per day. Activating this power is part of the attack action. If the attack misses, the power is wasted.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Psionics Unleashed. Copyright 2010, Dreamscarred Press.

scroll to top