Another "power sources" thread (this time without speculation)

BendBars/LiftGates

First Post

• Jun 18, 2008

• #1

The 4th Edition SRD lists, on page 23, all the power source names that they're placing under the GSL. Here's the list:

Arcane
Divine
Martial
Elemental
Ki
Primal
Psionic
Shadow

I think we knew about all of those, but did we know for sure that Ki was a power source?

 

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D

drothgery

First Post

• Jun 18, 2008

• #2

We weren't sure until the list above showed up in the PHB.

 

V

Victoly

First Post

• Jun 18, 2008

• #3

Ki seems a little cheesy as a power source to me, as does psionic - though it might be possible to justify the latter.

All of the other power sources seem to have ties to the cosmology of the world and its features. Arcane power comes from the Feywild, Divine from the Astral Sea (or at least the divine realms therein), Primal and Martial from the spiritual and physical makeup of the world itself respectively, Shadow from the Shadowfell, and Elemental from the Elemental Chaos.

I suppose Ki could be justified as a way of tapping into the powers of the Astral Sea, but that just seems like a tacky excuse for Monks and Ninja and Samurai to me. I thought the Monk class was a nice addition to the balance of 3rd edition but I never really liked the "martial arts" aesthetic for a more traditional medieval fantasy game.

Psionic powers could also be connected to the Far Realm I suppose, though I think the Far Realm should be kept as mysterious as possible, myself.

 

Kosh

First Post

• Jun 18, 2008

• #4

Psionics coming from the far realm sounds like a great idea. I think the flavors would mesh well. Powers of the mind, insanity, tentacles (via Illithids)... I can really get into this.

I never really liked tying the Far Realm to the arcane like 3.5 did...

As for the other power sources, I'm glad Ki gets its own source. That way a GM can easily sort out classes that don't fit the flavor of his game. When a player says he wants to be a samurai or a ninja, just let him know that the Ki power source doesn't exist in your world. Actually, I can see this reasoning for a lot of situations. Low magic? No Arcane. No Gods? No divine. I guess only Martial would be hard to get rid of .

 

L

Lurker59

First Post

• Jun 18, 2008

• #5

Rather than coming from outside I'd imagine that martial, psionics, and ki come from within. Could easily be seen as the progressing towards the perfection of body, mind, and soul respectively.

 

T

The Sword 88

First Post

• Jun 18, 2008

• #6

I would prefer if pisonics drew from the mind of the psion and not from the far realms, so here's hoping thats the how it works out.

But I like Kosh's idea about just banning a power source to help with flaor for a game.

 

GnomeWorks

Adventurer

• Jun 18, 2008

• #7

Lurker59 said:

Rather than coming from outside I'd imagine that martial, psionics, and ki come from within. Could easily be seen as the progressing towards the perfection of body, mind, and soul respectively.

Click to expand...

Hmm... I like that definition for ki. Never thought about it that way before.

 

V

Victoly

First Post

• Jun 18, 2008

• #8

Lurker59 said:

Rather than coming from outside I'd imagine that martial, psionics, and ki come from within. Could easily be seen as the progressing toward the perfection of body, mind, and soul respectively.

Click to expand...

That gets you involved in a mind/body/soul distinction which carries a lot of philosophical implications that aren't necessarily a part of the D&D cosmology. The body/soul/animus distinction mentioned in some of the preview material with reference to certain undead creatures could make sense here, but it'd be a bit of a stretch.

Also, GnomeWorks, that definition of "Ki" is about as traditional as you can get. (No offense to it, of course, I'm just surprised that it seems novel to you.)

 

A Passing Maniac

First Post

• Jun 18, 2008

• #9

Victoly said:

That gets you involved in a mind/body/soul distinction which carries a lot of philosophical implications that aren't necessarily a part of the D&D cosmology.

Click to expand...

Perhaps previously, but in 4th Edition, the soul and mind are explicitly named as the sources of ki and psionic powers in the Player's Handbook, on page 54: "...monks harness the power of their soul energy (or ki), and psions call upon the mind to generate psionic powers."

 

Viktyr Gehrig

First Post

• Jun 18, 2008

• #10

Victoly said:

I suppose Ki could be justified as a way of tapping into the powers of the Astral Sea, but that just seems like a tacky excuse for Monks and Ninja and Samurai to me. I thought the Monk class was a nice addition to the balance of 3rd edition but I never really liked the "martial arts" aesthetic for a more traditional medieval fantasy game.

Click to expand...

Well, that's the thing... the common understanding of "traditional fantasy game" tends to include more and more Chinese and Japanese fantasy elements as time goes by.

I'd say most second-generation gamers grew up with Final Fantasy just as much as Tolkien. They (myself included) simply do not remember a time period in which fantasy roleplaying games did not include Monks and Ninjas.

Keep an eye out in the next decade or so. You'll probably see a lot more steampunk and magitech material being introduced into "traditional fantasy games" as gamers who grew up on Final Fantasy IX and Warcraft 3 start writing roleplaying books.