D&D 5E 5E Psionics Conversion.

[Revan79]

Hello all,
So, I'm a big Dark Sun fan and have been waiting for a while now to see how WoTC are going to introduce Psionics to 5E and from what I've seen so far i'm sadly not that impressed. So myself and a friend are going to do a small conversion from an older edition probably 3.5 as 2nd ed would require a complete overhaul and 4th just isn't how I envision "True Psionics".

I have seen many other conversions on the net and have never been satisfied with what I've seen.
I have never liked "Psionics is Magic" as it would seem redundant next to magic users.
I would like to know what other people liked about older versions of Psionics and also what they didn't like as I'm rather biased.

Please let me know what you think and I will post up and update when my friends and I have sat down properly and decided the framework.

(Please note, I'm not the "math Guy" so posting formula or equations will be a giant waste of your time unless a 5yo could understand it. Thank you. Look forward to all your input.

 

[IgnatiusJ.Reilly]

I'd need a refresher on 2e and to delve into 3e implementation to formulate a good response. But, after looking at Unearthed Arcana 'Mystic', I'd certainly miss the Psychic Contests, Telepathic Combat (attack/defense modes), and arrangement of disciplines in an analogous way to spell schools. I liked the 2e version, though it was a bit clunky at times. There may have been better implementations in 3e, that I'm not aware of though. The current Unearthed Arcana 'Mystic' isn't interesting to me, I don't even like the name.

 

[Awesome Adam]

The 2E Psionics have always been my favorite, but that really has to do with them bieng the first Psionic rules for D&D I wrapped my head around. Never used the 1E Psionic rules. The 3E ones had MAC(Mental Armor Class) and that was about as far as I got into them. Didn't even know they existed in 4E.

I like the 5E approach so far, since it's streamlined, and as a DM now I really apprecia the simplification.

However, the 2E approach worked for me, so I could see implementing a version of it for 5E. PSP's (Psionic Strength Points) and PSP costs for powers worked well enough that you could probably keep the disciplines, powers, and PSP costs and just tweak the powers to be 5E appropriate.

 

[Revan79]

I also like it in the same way Wizard has it's school and have been thinking about doing the same for Psionics but instead of schools use "Disciplines" e.g Clairsentients, Psychometabolism. I do think it is possible to make the psychic attacks/defenses work but only between Psionic characters/npc/monsters. I will have to give it some thought.

 

[Ath-kethin]

If you're favoring WotC-era D&D psionics, just use the spell points option in the DMG and let your players sleep through it.

The only D&D psionics approach I ever really liked was the one from 2nd Edition, because it actually felt different from a spellcaster. I'm not saying the approach was perfect; there really should have been a hierarchy, progression, or tree system to make sure you didn't get, say Disintegrate at first level and just annihilate everything you ever saw, but at least the 2e system seemed to have a reason to exist as a different type of power.

 

[IgnatiusJ.Reilly]

If you're favoring WotC-era D&D psionics, just use the spell points option in the DMG and let your players sleep through it.

The only D&D psionics approach I ever really liked was the one from 2nd Edition, because it actually felt different from a spellcaster. I'm not saying the approach was perfect; there really should have been a hierarchy, progression, or tree system to make sure you didn't get, say Disintegrate at first level and just annihilate everything you ever saw, but at least the 2e system seemed to have a reason to exist as a different type of power.

Maybe at 3rd level, though you might end up disintegrating yourself in the process! But, yes, there's no reason to port over broken elements of the system. Placing a cap on the number of points you can spend on power, as done in the Unearthed Arcana version, should prevent the psionicist from accessing powers too devastating for his or her character level.

 

[Awesome Adam]

Meh, if you spent 40 PSPs on a disintergrate attempt at low level, you were pretty much done for the day.

Psionicist: "I summon all my inner strength to rip that Ogre apart with the power of my mind"
DM: Rolls dice "The Ogre feels a slight tingle and not much else"
Psionicist: "Sorry guys, I'm all out for the day."

It made them different from Spell Casters that they could throw their entire reserve into a single power.

Admittedly, as much as I liked the 2E system at the time, having minor at-will powers in 4E/5E has been an improvement.

 

[Gadget]

Hmmm...I like the fiction of the Mystic alright (Far Realm references notwithstanding), but I find the mechanical implementation rather lacking. While I appreciate the system is somewhat different from spell casting, with focus, spending more points on disciplines for more effects, and I like the simplicity of it, it still feels too much like another Wizard in drag; or rather, a Wizard and gish in drag. The Mechanics just don't match the fiction: The immortal gets gish powers (all the other gish classes have a summon weapon type power, lets give them a bizarre absorb weapon power, but only weapons dagnabit!), etc. I realize classes need to fit into the the structure of the game people play, but it seemed kind of phoned in to me.

This feel of the class is more important than whether or not Dispel Magic cancels out psionic effects or not. I mean, when you're basically just a wizard in drag, why not? Actually, I would expect Mindblank to protect against a telepath and such things where magic and psionics overlap.

But I disagree with the OP in that I found 3E era psionics to be wizards (or sorcerers) with power points and crystals. They tried to do too much with the class and it really seemed to dilute the fiction of the class.

 

[LordNightwinter]

Personally, I prefer 2e psionics over 3/3.5/Pathfinder/4e psionics. The 5e stuff looks interesting but I'm more interested in seeing a pure Psion.

 

[the Jester]

I have always loved psionics, ever since I first discovered D&D and the 1e PH Appendix I. I love the pseudo-scientific feel of them; I love that they're weird and rare; I love the flavor the various psionic monsters and related material (cerebral parasites!).

So far, the only psionic stuff I have done up for 5e is in the form of a couple of psionic subclasses, like a psychic warrior path for the fighter.