Help me accept psionics

[Klaus]

This image singlehandedly made me accept Psionics as part of D&D:

 

[Hussar]

Yet they both come from the same origin. People who have no trouble throwing a Tyrannosaurus into their game, or a Triceratops, or a "Theurge", will have trouble with "Psions." It's fine if people have a "genre bias" with psionics, but I take issue with the fact that the names are too "futuristic" to have a place in D&D -- they fit as well as a necromancer or theurge.

Origin or not, the usage is completely different. Tyrannosaurus is a word that has been around and used in fantasy for probably as long as fantasy has existed as a genre. Or at least pretty closely. Necromancy and Thaumaturgy have been part of the genre and the game for decades.

Technobabble words like Psychometabolism have no such history to stand on in the genre.

I'm not saying that they have no place in the game. I'm fairly ambivalent either way, but, I can certainly understand why they might not be acceptable to genre fans. For the same reason that we don't really add in words like scientist into the game. Instead, we use alchemist, despite the fact that both terms could likely apply depending on the setting. Alchemist carries all sorts of fantasy connotations that scientist or naturalist doesn't. Instead of using geneticist, we use Biothaumaturgist. Connotations are important.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

If you can't help thinking of psionics as science fiction, then don't look at science fiction dealing with the future - look at science fiction dealing with the past.

Think ancient astronauts - alien entities visiting the world before humans developed. Or a nice dash of Lovecraftian madness - things that Should Not Be. Hey, if some otherworldly monstrosities develop some supernatural powers, then why should they resemble arcane or priestly magic? Using weird, glowing crystals seems more appropriate than magic staffs and wands...

So to make psionics fit into your campaign, associate it with aberrations - there are already precedents for this (with aboleths, mind flayers, and so on). And humanoids who have gained psionic powers have done so by studying such creatures - or by being altered by them (e.g. duergar). Thus, psionics can be seen as an alien, "outside" force - somewhat disturbing and icky in its ultimate implications...

 

[hong]

This image singlehandedly made me accept Psionics as part of D&D:

I gotta admit, that's the best image of turn undead I've ever seen.

 

[wayne62682]

I'm one of those weird people... I have no problem with guns, or quasi-steampunk technology (I love Eberron) in my games, but psionics still feels "sci-fi" and when I think of it, I think of X-men style mutants. I know it's what you make of it, but I think the issue is that to most fantasy gamers the word Psionics and the sci-fi sounding names of the powers evokes imagery of mutant superheroes and outer space. It just feels "wrong".

 

[RFisher]

Not to mention the obvious fantasy-ness of completely English Polymorph

Yeah, there have been plenty of words in D&D from the beginning that don't really seem to "fit" to me. I don't remember if it is still around, but there was a spell named "ESP". The word "mana" in games with a strong medieval European flavor always bugs me a bit.

I've been trying to come up with "fantasy" names for the classic Traveller psionic talents, but only came up with one: seer or scry for clairsentience. (Although I did find someone's choice of "wending" for psychoportation on the web, which seemed kind of cool.) I think I've finally decided to be happy with replacing "psionics" with "sorcery" & leave the talent names as "sorcerous jargon". After all, as has been mentioned, they're mostly Greek derived & could have been coined in the ancient age even if they weren't.

This never convinced me, for several reasons ("why different mechanics?" "why so many new mechanics?" "how is it really different from arcane magic?") but maybe it will work for you.

Whereas I'm annoyed that different kinds of magic don't have significantly different mechanics. Why should divine magic be so similar to arcane? Why should sorcery use the same spells as wizardry?

When I played Gurps, I'd planned on running a fantasy game in which the standard magic was "wizardry" & psionics were "sorcery". Two different kinds of magic with different mechanics. I think that would've been very cool. (Except that, IIRC, the psionic rules had problems.)

 

[Zaukrie]

Whereas I'm annoyed that different kinds of magic don't have significantly different mechanics. Why should divine magic be so similar to arcane? Why should sorcery use the same spells as wizardry?

I agree with this, I don't think the types of magic are different enough.

I've never understood the psionics is sci-fi argument. There is nothing particularly scientific about people that can throw items across a room just by thinking about it. That is clearly some kind of magic, at least in the universe as we undestand it.

 

[Merkuri]

I've never understood the psionics is sci-fi argument. There is nothing particularly scientific about people that can throw items across a room just by thinking about it.

There's little about modern sci-fi that is scientific. It's basically fantasy set in in space or in the future. Some people call things like that space fantasy and deny that it's really science fiction. These people insist that real science fiction deals with real (but theoretical) science. Psionics would be considered sci-fi by the people who use the term to describe anything set in the future/space, but would not be considered sci-fi by those who restrict it to real science theories, because there's no theory behind it.

 

[Defender_X]

I'm playing a Paladin 5/Psychic Warrior 4 in Eberron right now and psionics hasn't caused any problems to the campaign. The plus side is that it helps me be a better meat shield when the Warforged juggernaunt gets wound up and starts dropping enemies. And I have to keep the remainder away from the Artificer.

 

[CrimsonWineGlass]

In my games the psion as almost another type of monk. The monk's ki that powers his attacks, gives him immunities and those neat little tricks is the same energy used by a psion. A punch that can break through magic because it is empowered by an internal energy. The psion smashes you with waves of painful, agonizing energy through manipulation of his own internal energy. Same vauge idea, different tricks. When thinking about it as the manipulation of an internal energy, as opposed to the arcane idea of manipulating the external energies of the world around you or the divine idea of manipulating a power from a god or similar source.

Psionics can also be very fun, it is not implausible for a young teenager to have too much internal energy, and using it in destructive means. Its a little harder to explain why the same twelve year old boy is using "finger of death" on the party by nature.