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[D&D]Psionics
Clawshrimpy
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hi, I like to play Psionic Characters.
With the release of the XPH (Expanded Psionics Handbook) and Complete Psionics, I think Psionics is pretty damn plausible now, but there seems to still be a lot of "Psioniocs r dum/imba" bigotry still around.
I find being a Psion or a Wilder to be far more easy for someone to play than a Wizard or a Sorcerer. because a Wiz or a sorc require to have good teamwork, both from their end, and from the other players (especially fighters and barbarians.) ecause Wizards and Sorcerers get a multitude of Cone/line/AOE/etc. spells, or other very situational spells. while a Psion or Wilder in comparison have more single target or simple "Multi-target" powers and thus can more do their own thing.
also I find the Psion interesting to roleplay. because it's a class I can use to roleplay a rather young character without having to be a Fighter. Psions can start adventuring as early as Age 16! while wizards often start adventuring in their 40's at the least. while some people like playing older more feeble character, I like playing really young characters.
I want to have some discussion reguarding Psionics, Psionic Items, Psionic encounters and ways a DM can "Manage" Psionics, and why DM's HATE them so very much.
With the release of the XPH (Expanded Psionics Handbook) and Complete Psionics, I think Psionics is pretty damn plausible now, but there seems to still be a lot of "Psioniocs r dum/imba" bigotry still around.
I find being a Psion or a Wilder to be far more easy for someone to play than a Wizard or a Sorcerer. because a Wiz or a sorc require to have good teamwork, both from their end, and from the other players (especially fighters and barbarians.) ecause Wizards and Sorcerers get a multitude of Cone/line/AOE/etc. spells, or other very situational spells. while a Psion or Wilder in comparison have more single target or simple "Multi-target" powers and thus can more do their own thing.
also I find the Psion interesting to roleplay. because it's a class I can use to roleplay a rather young character without having to be a Fighter. Psions can start adventuring as early as Age 16! while wizards often start adventuring in their 40's at the least. while some people like playing older more feeble character, I like playing really young characters.
I want to have some discussion reguarding Psionics, Psionic Items, Psionic encounters and ways a DM can "Manage" Psionics, and why DM's HATE them so very much.
Clawshrimpy on
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I hate it when DM's go the "No Psionics" route. or worse..... Core Only.
Like this one time in a campaign my friend and I were up against a steel-enforced thick wooden door guarded by about 30 kobolds. It was probably somewhere we weren't supposed to be yet, as there was no way to get through it without fighting all of them. So I used my abilities to melt a hole in the door with the power of my mind. They got scared and ran away.
I also brought a very dead person back to life.
Good times.
Ayliana Moonwhisper Ecksus Cerazal
Its a bitch to DM a campaign with psionics, unless its the focus, though. Darksun has psionics as the norm, and mages being the rarity. Also, the AD&D 2nd edition psionics rules are terrible, which probably turns off the old schoolers, even though the new rules work well.
That's not even touching the munchkin-ness of some psionic/class combinations.
Psions had more than Magic Missile in low level, and I have a whole arguement about when people make the "You can do anything with a Wizard or Sorcerer that you could do as a Psionicist."
which is Bullshit, theres noting in Arcane magic that comes CLOSE to Metacreativity.
I also blame Ad&D 2ed.
Well, it's true to it's source material. 1st had a random roll to see if you were Psionic. If you were you got free nifty powers.
Yea! Balance!
XPH has some issues as well, but most of those strike me as obvious and Complete Psion fixed some of them. (Absurd power DC's for...er...Energy Stun I think? A few others to boot.)
The 3.0 psionics rules are basically magic under another name.
2nd edition psionics are so ridiculously complicated I honestly have no clue where to start when describing them. I'm one of those who thinks 3rd ed. D&D made the game alot more complicated, but thats because I overlook stuff like the psionics rules. I understand how the revised 2nd ed. psionics work, but everything in the original book is a convoluted mess. I only own it for the power descriptions, which were still necessary.
The original 2nd ed. stuff all worked just like NWP's. With the simple addition of 1/2(IIRC) your powers had to be in your primary discipline.
Now, it was shitty because it pretty much meant you had a hefty percentage chance of doing nothing, no reasonable way to improve your odds and some effects that were greatly out of level for 2nd edition. (I'm 1st level, I can dimension door....but better.)
See what I posted a few responses above.
Psionics are interesting in second edition because there's little middle ground in power. Its either "you are fucking dead in one hit" or "olol you take 1d6 damage". Its weird like that.
Indeed, its either too powerful or too weak.
Barbarian: Something got through a knicked me for 5 damages! Pop a Cure Serious on me!
Me: Thats what I brewed you potions for, where did they go? I'd like to use my gods favor to burn heathens.
Barbarian: *Turns greatsword at me* WHAT WAS THAT! *Intimidate*
Me: *Fail* AFFERMATIVE HEALBOT IN ACTION!
Doesn't take a genius to figure "Hey, his hands glow and I feel better. DO THAT GLOWY HAND THING OR I'LL CUT YOU!"
I don't think superstitious barbarian would harm a shaman or cleric who is an ally. That would be the same as attacking the god they represent, and who's power is obviously very real...
And if they do decide to be an idiot, kill them. Clerics are quite strong in combat, and its already been stated he's hurt.
Disintigrate? Doesn't it have a very low chance of working, though?
Any tips?
The only thing that gets annoys me about psionsics is the lack of psionic items/non integration of psionic/magic items and the fact that they are intelligence and not charisma based casters.
Anyway, the point is that psions arent difficult to keep in line, not like wizards at least.
Limed for truth. Psions are just moderately more effective sorcerers. They still aren't up to par with wizards, clerics, or druids however.
LoL: failboattootoot
Freedom of Movement.
Got to say I agree with that basic philosophy. If you'd asked me a year ago about psionics I'd have kept them well, well away from any fantasy setting I did, but after getting into Eberron and seeing the awesomeness that is the Dreaming Dark... well I pretty much credit Eberron for persuading me to buy the XPH.
Generally speaking I'd try to avoid treating psionics as merely another form of magic, even if you go the route of having psionics and magic being completely equivilent system wise (power res=spell res. dispell magic works against psionics etc). Generally speaking I prefer to have one as the 'science' of my world, a relitively tame if potentially dangerous force that nearly every well educated individual knows a bit about, and the other as being completely alien to the setting, a mysterious force people react to with suspicion.
Funnily enough magic or psionics can fulfill either role. If you want magic as science go semi-steampunk or generic high fantasy. If you want magic as an alien, inscrutable force go Conan the Barbarian or A Song of Ice and Fire. Likewise if you want psionics as a science, go the Star Trek vulcan route, psionics is merely a the act of a highly evolved, disciplined mind imposing itself on reality. Alternatively, if you want to give psionics more edge, point out that pretty much all the naturally psionic creatures in core are evil Lovecraftian abberations whose minds are unfathomable to mere humans. Psionics stems from the alien, incomprehensible psyche of beings no mortal could ever hope to understand, and even if a psion wears a human face they are ultimately something greater or less than human in mind.
Anyway that's how I do it.
Psions are not nearly as strong as sorcerers.
I dont get it, they are the exact same spell...
except that the sorc/wizard can give it to other people as well as themselves.
You know you don't have to randomly generate your character's age, right? You can choose it right off the bat. And if you're going by the random ages, wizards start out at a minimum of 17 years old (15 baseline plus +2 if you roll ones), with 27 at the max. This is for humans, of course.
I myself have never had the chance to play a psionisist, as my DM does not really care for them, plus he doesn't have the book. I'm sure he'd let me play as them if I really wanted to (plus purchased the book), but to be honest I don't like psionics much. Maybe it's because I'm a curmudgeonly former second-edition player, but hearing 'psionics' brings to mind 'broken'. It also brings to mind "goofy captions under each picture in the Psionics Handbook".
You misspelled druid/cleric there. Oh, you might have meant bard/ranger, I am horrible at correcting spelling.
See, my subtle point is that the Wiz/Sor list doesn't have freedom of movement. This is one area where the Psion is so incredibly better off than his arcane counterparts. Combined with the "Expend Psionic Focus" to Take 15 on a concentration roll and they are much harder to catch with their pants down in melee.
Now, I don't think Psion's make Wizards look like bitches, but it is unfair to say that they can do nothing better than a wizard could.
Also, METACREATIVITY, ASTRAL CONSTRUCTS, AND THEY ARE NOT A FUCKING PAIN IN THE ASS TO PLAY BETWEEN 1ST AND 15TH LEVEL LIKE A WIZARD.
Holy fuck she was strong.. Maybe it was what we were fighting, and yeah, at the end of the day she was nearly exhausted (Spending 75% of her points), whereas my Divine Trickster still had plenty of spells left. Still, when he was caught off gaurd she was killed fast. Oh and she could read minds. She got ambushed by an assassin, and forced the guy to kill himself.
Psions can easily dish out more damage then a Wizard, they can be incredibly self-capable, and can do a ton of things to piss off a DM. For instance, our Psion could make herself immune to all damage, second round cast something insane, and repeat. Get into trouble with authorities? True Mind Switch with something, heck Mind Switch with an extremely powerful thing. Or create a bunch of mind seeds. Or how about just knows in an instant if a guy is lying, drop baddies into commas, and force them to tell you their plans, how things work, and the like. Yeah a wizard or a cleric can do similar things, sometimes, if they have time to prepare.
Look, I don’t doubt psionics are as balanced against a properly trained DM, as say a Wizard or a Sorc, or a Cleric, but I came away from there with being glad that I had ruled against using them in my campaign. Just too many rules, too hard, and just to allow something insane like that. The DM and I had a lengthy discussion about it on the way back, and while he saw my points he didn't feel it was too strong. We'll see next time though.