Totemist (Class)

You channel the soul energy of magical beasts to make your soulmelds and claim them as your totems to acquire a share in their power.

Game Information

Alignment

Totemists can be of any alignment. Many gravitate toward neutrality like the magical beasts they revere, while others adopt more extreme alignments—the lawful good of blink dogs and lammasus, the chaotic good of pegasi and unicorns, the lawful evil of displacer beasts, or the chaotic evil of chimeras and lamias.

Hit Die

d8

Starting Gold

2d4 x 10 gp
100 gp (Sky Islands Campaign Setting)

Skills

The totemist's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Fishing, Handle Animal, Jump, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Nature), Knowledge (the Planes), Listen, Lucid Dreaming, Profession, Prospect, Ride, Scavenge, Spellcraft, Spot, Survival, Swim, and Use Mystic Device.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4+INT mod) x 4
Skill points at Each Additional Level: 4 + INT mod

Table: the Totemist

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Totemists are proficient with all simple weapons, with light armors, and with shields (except tower shields).

Meldshaping: A totemist's primary ability is shaping incarnum soulmelds, which are drawn from the totemist soulmeld list (MoI page 58). You know and can shape any soulmeld from this list. Unlike the aligned forces of an incarnate's melds, your soulmelds channel the bestial spirits of nature.

The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a totemist soulmeld is 10 + number of points of essentia invested in the soulmeld + your Constitution modifier. Your meldshaper level is equal to your totemist level.

A totemist can shape only a certain number of soulmelds per day. Your base daily allotment is given on Table: the Totemist. The maximum number of soulmelds that you can have shaped simultaneously is equal to your Constitution score minus 10 or the number of soulmelds on the table, whichever is lower. At 1st level, you can shape two soulmelds at a time (assuming you have a Constitution score of at least 12). As you advance in level, you can shape an increasing number of soulmelds.

At 1st level, you also gain access to your personal pool of essentia, which can be invested into your soulmelds to increase their power. Your essentia pool's size is shown on Table: the Totemist. Your character level, as noted on Table: Essentia Capacity, determines the maximum quantity of essentia that you can invest in any single soulmeld. As a swift action, you can reallocate your essentia investments in your soulmelds every round (see Essentia, MoI page 50).

A totemist does not study or prepare soulmelds in advance, but must have a good night's rest and must meditate for 1 hour to shape his soulmelds for the day (see Shaping Soulmelds, MoI page 49).

Chakra Binds: Beginning at 2nd level, you can bind your soulmelds to your chakras, granting you new powers based on the soulmeld and the chakra chosen. Binding a soulmeld to a chakra closes the body slot associated with that chakra (see Chakras, MoI page 50), so that you cannot also benefit from a magic item worn on the body slot associated with that chakra.

The number of chakra binds that you can have active at any one time depends on your level (see the Chakra Binds column on Table: the Totemist). For more information on chakra binds, see MoI page 51.
- At 2nd level, you can bind a soulmeld to your totem chakra (see below).
- Beginning at 5th level, you can bind soulmelds to your crown, feet, or hands chakras.
- At 9th level, you can bind soulmelds to your arms, brow, or shoulders chakras.
- At 14th level, you can bind soulmelds to your throat or waist chakras.
- At 17th level, you can bind a soulmeld to your heart chakra.
- You never gain the ability to bind a soulmeld to your soul chakra.

Totem Chakra Bind: At 2nd level, you gain access to a unique chakra: the totem chakra. This chakra is not associated with any location on the body, but rather represents your connection to the wild soul energy of nature, embodied in the magical beasts of the world. When you bind a soulmeld to your totem chakra, you take on characteristics of the creature represented by the meld—usually involving a limited physical transformation. Since the totem chakra doesn't match a body location, binding a soulmeld to this chakra doesn't restrict your use of magic items that take up a body location.

Any soulmeld bound to your totem chakra has an essentia capacity 1 higher than the normal capacity for your soulmelds. For example, a 2nd-level totemist can invest up to 2 points of essentia in any soulmeld bound to his totem chakra bind (rather than the normal limit of 1 points of essentia). At 15th level, the capacity of any soulmeld bound to your totem chakra increases by an additional point (meaning that a 15th-level totemist could invest up to 5 points of essentia in that soulmeld).
At 6th level, the effective meldshaper level of a soulmeld you have bound to your totem chakra is equal to your actual meldshaper level +1. The primary effect of this benefit is to make that soulmeld harder to unshape.
At 11th level, you gain the ability to bind a single soulmeld to your totem chakra and to another chakra at the same time. You gain the special benefits of both chakra binds.

Wild Empathy (Ex): As the druid class ability, you gain a +4 bonus on wild empathy checks made to influence the reactions of magical beasts of the same kind as the beast associated with the soulmeld bound to your totem chakra. Thus, if you have a basilisk mask bound to your totem chakra, you gain the bonus on checks made to influence basilisks.

Illiteracy: Like barbarians, totemists do not begin the game knowing how to read and write. You can spend 2 skill points to gain the ability to read and write all languages you are able to speak. If you gain a level in any other class (unless it also has illiteracy), you automatically gain literacy. A barbarian who gains a totemist level remains illiterate. Any other character who gains a totemist level does not lose the literacy he or she already had.

Woodland Stride (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a totemist may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at his normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion still affect him.

Totem's Protection (Ex): At 4th level, you gain a +4 bonus on saving throws against the supernatural abilities of magical beasts.

Totemic Ability (Ex or Su): Starting at 7th level, a totemist can mimic a magical beast's extraordinary abilities. Once per day, you can invest essentia into this feature. You gain an extraordinary ability from a magical beast of your choosing. You can only mimic an ability of a magical beast that you know about, with an alignment that is the same as your own, and with hit dice that are equal to or less than your totemist level. If applicable, you use your own totemist level and ability scores in place of the creature's (for attack bonuses, save DCs, CL, etc). Once the amount of essentia invested is chosen, it cannot be altered and remains invested for 24 hours. You gain 1 point of essentia (this additional essentia is not figured into the totemist table presented above).

At 13th level, a totemist can mimic supernatural abilities as well as extraordinary abilities.

Rebind Totem Soulmeld (Su): As your link to your totem chakra strengthens, you learn to shift the ties that bind your soulmelds. Starting at 8th level, once per day you can unbind a soulmeld from your totem chakra and bind a different meld to that chakra, as long as the new meld is one you already have shaped. This requires a full-round action and provokes attacks of opportunity.

You can use this ability one additional time for every four levels gained above 8th (2/day at 12th level, 3/day at 16th, and 4/day at 20th).

Venom Immunity (Ex): At 10th level, a totemist gains immunity to all poisons.

Totem Transformation (Su): Up to six times per day, a totemist of 18th level can take on the form of any magical beast. The creature he transforms into can be between tiny and huge size, and its hit dice can not exceed his totemist level. While in the magical beast form, he gains both the extraordinary and supernatural abilities of the creature. If applicable, you use your own totemist level and ability scores in place of the creature's (for attack bonuses, save DCs, CL, etc). He can only transform into magical beasts that he shares his alignment with. Otherwise, this ability functions like a druid's wild shape ability.

Timeless Body (Ex): Upon attaining 19th level, the presence of incarnum within your body becomes so prevalent that your aging process changes dramatically. You no longer take penalties to your ability scores and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties that you have already taken, however, remain in place. Bonuses still accrue, penalties continue to apply, and you still die of old age when your time is up.

Totem Embodiment (Su): At 20th level, you gain the ability to temporarily link your body and soul to your totem chakra. This greatly enhances the power of essentia invested in soulmelds bound to that chakra. For the duration of this ability, your normal essentia capacity of any soulmeld bound to your totem chakra is doubled. Every point of essentia invested in a soulmeld bound to your totem chakra counts as 2 points of essentia.

Activating this ability is a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. It can be used once per day and lasts for a number of minutes equal to your Constitution bonus (minimum 1).

Base Classes

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