Feat: Psionic Reserve

Rae ArdGaoth

Explorer
Bront said:
...if every psionic ability is matched with a spellcasting ability, and vice versa, why have them separate at all?
Excellent point. I thought about that, too. I don't really think they need a counterpart feat, but I thought it was a point worth raising.

One extra psionic power at the highest level you can cast doesn't sound too powerful to me. It's pretty good though. Maybe 1pp/2HD is not that underpowered. Is there an easy way of making it 1 power at the second highest level you can cast? Like, 2pp/3HD.

Perhaps it should have a prereq? Or maybe not, Toughness has no prereq.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

SlagMortar

First Post
PP cost for powers is 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17. Bonus power points of (HD - 2) is one power of the second highest level.

I'm not sure that's much of a gimp though. I had never looked at this before. It surprises me that psion powers have a linear cost. I mean a 9th level power costs one point less than two 5th level powers?
 
Last edited:

Velmont

First Post
For a similar spellcaster feat, there is spellcaster prodigy that allow you to have better DC and more spell as you consider your main attribute 2 points higher.

For that feat, I find it strong, even more in the hand of a Psychic Warrior or some Psionic PrC.
 

Rae ArdGaoth

Explorer
Velmont raises a good point: Psions get more pp/day than psychic warriors, and thus psychic warriors stand to benefit more (percentage-wise) from this feat.

The same goes for Improved Toughness: A wizard has 1d4 hp/level, a barbarian has 1d12, so the wizard benefits three times as much from the feat (percentage-wise).

To be honest, I'm liking both feats (Psionic Reserve and Improved Toughness) less and less as I think about them. They have little flavor, and for Psionic Rserve, (like I said with Someone's proposal) I feel like you could improve your casting capacity with feats that already exist. Also, both of them mess with the fundamental progression of classes. Psion's pp/day were thought out carefully by the Wizards designers. And hit point progression was carefully planned as well. Now that I really think about it, this kind of feat subtly messes with the core of the game, and I don't like it. I'm starting to see why they made Toughness is so terrible.

And a comment on the flavor of this proposal and all proposals: I think our goal for LEW should be to keep the rules simple and the flavor strong. Less crunch, more fluff. My initial response to Someone's proposal was negative, but now that I see the flavor coming out, it's growing on me. I'd like to see more PrC's like "Collegiate Scholar of Nobius" and "Dervish of Sairundan". I'd like to see more feats like the Delmontes Technique chain, like "Psions can tap into the Towers to augment their powers" and "Spellcasters can use their own bodies as small "Towers" to increase their spellcasting power". I think that kind of thing gives Enworld a life of its own, a unique identity separate from other campaigns. Rules like this one that just mess with the basics should be scrutinized and considered at length, because passing them means we, as a community, believe that Wizards was wrong in balancing the game as it is.

Sorry for doing such a 180o on this. :\
 

Bront

The man with the probe
Rae ArdGaoth said:
Velmont raises a good point: Psions get more pp/day than psychic warriors, and thus psychic warriors stand to benefit more (percentage-wise) from this feat.

The same goes for Improved Toughness: A wizard has 1d4 hp/level, a barbarian has 1d12, so the wizard benefits three times as much from the feat (percentage-wise).
According to that logic, So does Toughness and Psionic Talent, at 2 each.

Psionic Reserve is effectlively like raising your casting atribute by 4 to determine PPs only, and is independant of your manifestor level. Improved Toughness is like increasing your Con by 2 for HP purposes.

Maybe 1 PP/2 HD rounded down might be better...
 

Rae ArdGaoth

Explorer
Bront said:
According to that logic, So does Toughness and Psionic Talent, at 2 each.

But they only grant 2 or 3 points, ever. 2pp/343pp (L20 psion pp) is nothing. 20pp/343pp (psion again) is still small, but something. 20pp/127pp (L20 psychic warrior pp ) is significant.

And for Improved Toughness, 20hp/260hp (L20 fighter with +3 CON) isn't as much as 20hp/120hp (L20 wizard with +2 CON).

But I see your point, about it just raising CON by +2 for HP purposes. That's a good analogy. An Amulet of Health gives +2 to CON for 4,000gp. HP is an important part of CON, I'd say at least 2500gp's worth, probably more. So does one feat = 2500gp?

Or is that a terrible way of comparing feats? =P
 

Bront

The man with the probe
Rae ArdGaoth said:
Or is that a terrible way of comparing feats? =P
Probably.
A fighter will get more milage (usually) out of Weapon Finesse than a Wizard will. A wizard will get more use out of metamagic feats than a rogue. It's the way things work, so balancing a feat one class vs another isn't always the best way.

If we use the 1/2 revision of this feat, it adds up to 10 PPs instead of 20, which I find a bit tamer (It's basicly, one extra spell of half your max caster level in spell equivilents), and I think it's more in line with a feat like Improved Toughness, which I like in general (but isn't SRD, so proposing it would have to make adjustments.

Anyway, I made the revision. I'm ready for more discussion, but I think this could be up for a vote as it stands now.
 


Bront

The man with the probe
Someone said:
+1 pp/HD with a requisite of Psionic Talent is another option to consider.
Yeah, but that's... well... that just seems rough, get el-sucko feat to get semi-uber feat later. Also, Psions and Psi-wars get bonus feats, so it doesn't limit them as much as it might a wilder or other psion.
 

Someone

Adventurer
Bront said:
Yeah, but that's... well... that just seems rough, get el-sucko feat to get semi-uber feat later.

Not unlike you have to suck Dodge and Mobility to get Spring attack, or Endurance to get Die Hard. As feats go, it's quite common.
 

Remove ads

Top