Crystal Psiweapon feat, Take 2

[EternalSword]

CRYSTAL PSIWEAPON [Psionic]
You can implant a personality fragment in a psionic weapon.
Prerequisite: Manifester level 1st
Benefit: You can seed a personality fragment in an existing masterwork crystal or psionicly enhanced weapon, granting the weapon sentience as a psicrystal. The seeded weapon becomes in all respects a psicrystal that improves with your level, gaining all special abilities at the normal progression levels except self-propulsion, flight and spell delivery accordingly. Apply the psicrystal’s natural armor bonus as a bonus to the weapon’s hardness. Because the weapon is linked to your mind, you gain a +1 insight bonus on attack rolls with this specific item only.
Special: You can apply other feats that enhance psicrystals to your crystal psiweapon. You cannot have both a psiweapon and a psicrystal.
Modified from the netbook of feats: changed wording, added attack bonus, removed an ability that made disarm useless against the psiweapon, rebalanced by removing spell delivery.

Removed from consideration:
POWER PSICRYSTAL [Psionic]
You can charge your psicrystal with power points and use it as a cognizance crystal.
Prerequisite: Psicrystal Affinity, Ability to manifest 3rd level psionic powers
Benefit: You can store extra power points in your psicrystal. In effect, the psicrystal becomes a cognizance crystal capable of storing 5 power points in addition to its other abilities. As normal for cognizance crystals, it must be recharged
Normal: Psicrystals cannot normally store power points.
Special: This feat can be combined with Crystal Psiweapon.
From the netbook of feats.

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

I don't know much about psionics, but nobody's commented so far, so I'll give some thoughts.

Would you have to take the Psicrystal Affinity feat in addition to the first feat? Also, I'm not sure I like the +1 insight attack bonus, does any other feat give a +1 attack? I don't think so. And familiars (and psicrystals) give skill bonuses, not attack bonuses. I realize that this is a weapon, but I'm not entirely sure I like the idea of a 1st level character already having a "sorta-magical" weapon. Would the character be able to discharge touch spells through their psicrystal weapon? I would say yes, the way this is currently worded. I think that's broken too.

The second one I don't have too much of a problem with. In effect, it's an extra 3rd level spell per day. How much does a cognizance crystal cost?

EDIT: Ah yes, of course, weapon focus gives a +1 bonus to one weapon type.

 

[IcyCool]

I think adding Psicrystal Affinity as a pre-req to Crystal Psiweapon would make a lot of sense. Is there any particular reason it isn't in there?

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

Okay, a 5pp cognizance crystal costs 9000gp. That strikes me as a lot, but I don't know how other feats might compare costwise.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Okay, a 5pp cognizance crystal costs 9000gp. That strikes me as a lot, but I don't know how other feats might compare costwise.

Compared to other feats, both of these feats are rather powerful. For instance, there is a feat that just gives you 2 Power Points and the latter feat gives you 5 with slight restrictions.

But the first feat is more powerful still. It combines Psicrystal Affinity (a powerful feat) with an ability about equal to Weapon Focus (also a powerful feat). The first feat is just absurd.

 

[EternalSword]

I didn't actually realize the touch spell thing was still on psicrystals, and psicrystals are useless without any means of moving themselves. The +1 bonus is with that specifiic weapon only, not others of the same type, and I thought would roughly compensate for the loss of it's ability to move or be useful for recon or delivery.

The cognizance crystal feat actually has the same requirements as making the item, and your trading a feat slot for an item that you could take the feat for and make at the same time, or earlier if a Psychic Warrior, as you could get the feat. The cognizance crystals are way overcosted, by the way.

The rough equivilants for casters, rings of wizardry and pearls of power, are slightly more expensive but diisgustingly more powerful. A wizard could take Extra Slot and get at this point another third level slot that would eventually give him a maxed dispel magic or fireball or lightning bolt. This feat give a psion a +5 check dispel or 5d6 attack.

And cognizance crystals have to be recharged. If I use those pp today, and I don't have any left at the end of the day to refill it with, I don't have them again tommorow. And no, you can't draw partly from the crystal and partly from yourself. To use a Console RPG analogy, it boost you maximum MP but you have to fill it from your current MP and then recharge.

The reason the psiweapon feat doesn't require psicrystal affinity is that the idea was that it is an alternate form of psycrystal, and that the bonus is the replacement for psycrystals recon and delivery usage.

If the judges would like, I'll remove the touch delivery ability and/or the bonus from this feat and add them to seperate feats. Incidently, the bonus is much worse than weapon focus since it applies to a single item and is suppressable by virtue of being a psionic feat.

 

[Rystil Arden]

This feat give a psion a +5 check dispel or 5d6 attack.

Which is why, of course, you don't use it for Dispel--it works just fine for Psionic Keen Edge, Darkvision, Ubiquitous Vision, etc. I did say it was at least more limited.

 

[EternalSword]

Actually, you make a good point. 5 pp will get a PsyWar a good buff up. I'll drop Power Psicrystal

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

I vote NO to Power Psicrystal.

As for Crystal Psiweapon, I think losing the ability of self-propulsion and delivering touch spells and the limitation of the attack bonus to just this weapon is enough to warrant the +1 attack bonus. Requiring Psicrystal Affinity as a prereq is too costly, I think. Consider this feat a replacement for Psicrystal Affinity that applies to a weapon instead. I vote YES. Technically, the psiweapon loses "Deliver Touch Powers", not "spell delivery", psions don't cast spells, they "manifest powers". Whatever. =P

One question: the SRD doesn't say what happens when a psicrystal is destroyed or if the creator wants a new one. What should happen?