What is a Form?

Every form has a level, which is an approximation of both its power, as well as the exertion necessary to perform it. There are five levels of forms. Basic forms are those which can be easily initiated at any time without needing to spend ki points. Other forms range from Sho-level to Ga-level, all the way to Sen-level, the most powerful forms in the world. The higher a form's level, the higher level a lacer must be to use that form.

Form level and character level don't correspond directly. The level a character needs to be to initiate a form of a certain level will be covered in that class or subclass's description.

Before a lacer can use a form, he or she must have the form firmly fixed in their mind, knowing its movements and the precise breathing required.

In every case, the number of forms a lacer can have learned at any given time depends on the character's level.

Regardless of how many forms a lacer knows, he or she can only initiate a limited number of forms before resting. Manipulating the elemental chaos to one's advantage is physically and mentally taxing, and higher-level forms are even more so. Each form requires a certain amount of ki points to initiate, Each class's description includes a table showing how many ki points a character has at each character level. For example, a 3rd-level samsari has 4 ki points.

When a character initiates a form, he or she expends a number of ki points required for that level form.

Finishing a short or long rest restores any expended ki points.

Initiating a Form's Enhanced Effect

Most forms have an enhanced effect, a more powerful version that can be initiated by anyone who knows the form. It requires you to spend 1 additional ki point for each level higher you wish to initiate the form.

A basic lacing effect is one which can be initiated at will, without ki points needing to be spent. Repeated practice of this simple effect has fixed the form in the lacer's mind so completely that they can perform it easily at any time.

Because of the focus and precise movements required for form initiation, you must be proficient with the armor you are wearing to initiate a form. You are otherwise too distracted and physically hampered by your armor to initiate a form.

While magic and lacing are no longer the same (having been fundamentally split apart in -31,500 DR during the catastrophe that led to the Sea of Fallen Stars), they operate under similar principles, and some of the rules between them can be used interchangeably. The extent to which this happens is at your DM's discretion for your campaign.

For instance, spellcasters must concentrate on their spells in order to have them continue. Lacers must similarly concentrate on their forms in order to keep control over them and make concentration checks in the same way.

Some forms work similarly and have similar wording to some spells. For example, the earthlacing form Impenetrable Stone has very similar wording and effects to the Globe of Invulnerability spell. Due to this similarity, you DM could rule that Impenetrable Stone also protects from magic spells in the same way that Globe of Invulnerability does, and that Globe of Invulnerability protects from lacing forms in the same way.