Psion class (Mearls, Happy Fun Hour)

Valetudo · Jun 9, 2018

Since we havent got a ragemage yet, maybe psionic barbie could be a wilder subclass.

Tony Vargas · Jun 9, 2018

SkidAce said:
Whereas Psionics is less "magic" and more mind/body, maybe even ki. You can study it OR gain it from birth/magical event..

If we're being honest - and, I know, why start now? - psionics is just magic with the serial numbers filed off for use in science-fiction.

But, just like D&D informed MMOs which in turn influenced D&D, fantasy has infiltrated sci-fi which has infiltrated fantasy with the magic it ripped off from fantasy as psionics.

So it's as legit as any other pop culture genre infidelities of th 70s.

CapnZapp · Jun 9, 2018

Tony Vargas said:
I'd see that more as having been a viable stop-gap until the ~~Mystic~~Psion completed its playtesting. (If we'd known it was a going to be this long, we sure could've used a stop-gap!)

+01

CapnZapp · Jun 9, 2018

Giltonio_Santos said:
I definitely want something else mechanically.

This. So very much this.

When all other arguments for psionics have been stripped away this is what remains.

If we're honest, yes, the Sorcerer's "born with it" is enough for psionics too. If we're honest, yes, most psychic powers have been made into spells already.

What remains is the gaming fun of new knobs to turn, and levers to pull. We definitely need a Psion, and it should definitely not be just a Wizard with spell points or a Sorcerer with a new spell list.

Li Shenron · Jun 9, 2018

SkidAce said:
I can never explain it very well.

It's not you. It's because the concept difference is weak.

"Supernatural but not magic" makes little sense because "magic" is already a catch-all word for everything supernatural. Psionics works great in context where you don't already use the word magic to explain the supernatural.

CapnZapp · Jun 9, 2018

The concept difference IS weak.

That is why psionics need a different mechanical framework than spellcasters.

And just spell points renamed power points used to cast spells renamed powers does not cut it.

jgsugden · Jun 9, 2018

The psychic wizard should b a sorcerer king in training. It should be magic augmented by psionics - it is a wizard first.

The telepath should be a psion subclass. As others mention, it is too iconic of a psionic element to be contracted out to the wizard.

Regardless, it is hard to understand what the total puzzle would look like until we get some playtest materials.

DEFCON 1 · Jun 9, 2018

It's the catch-22. If you make an entirely new mechanical framework, then it makes psionics different and interesting than spellcasting but is much less likely to mesh with the game. And many players will just find it off-putting and too difficult to incorporate so they'll ignore it... or they'll question why the exact same ability like detecting thoughts works one way as a spell and another way as a discipline.

The other method is to make psionics talents spells because everything in the game is already spell-based, even if they are fluffed as more natural abilities rather than spells. This makes it much easier for players to understand how they work, and how they balance themselves in the grand scheme of supernatural abilities, but make them much harder to fluff as something different.

It's the same issue we already have with things like the 4 Element Monk's magical abilities, or the Warlock's invocations. The game tries to make them seem different by giving them their own special names to denote in the story that they're not supposed to be just "casting X spell"... but they are using their magical power to invoke the Fist of Four Thunders or the Mask of Many Faces. When in truth they're just casting Thunderwave and Disguise Self just like the other members of the party. It's meant to be different, but really it plays out exactly the same. At least if you had a different mechanical framework it might feel different when you used the ability even if the effect matched. Just like how the Champion's expanded crit range feels different than the Ranger's Hunter's Mark, even though in both cases the player is just adding an extra die to their damage at various points in the fight.

This is really why psionics has never really been a thing I've felt was missing from the game, because I've never seen psionics different than just the various psychic spells that any other magical class already does. Being a psionic has always felt more like a descriptor of a person who focuses on a certain type of supernatural ability (psychic), just like somene saying they're a pyromancer (one who focuses on fire) or healer (one focused on healing magic). You don't need a new mechanical class or framework to be a pyromancer, so having one just for psionics has always felt unnecessary to me personally.

Tales and Chronicles · Jun 9, 2018

A thing I would like WotC to explore is a ''build up'' mechanic instead of a ''spending'' mechanic like all other other casters. Like, you start the day with X power point, in encounters you gain a special action called Gather Focus that you can use to ''drain'' power points. Then you also have a list of invocations/maneuvers that you can spend your gathered power points on. Like the Cipher in PoE, higher level ''invocation'' cost more, so the player has the choice to take many round to gather the needed focus for 1 big flashy effect, or use its pool to fuel many low cost effects.