One of the essential icons of a psionic character, and something that sets them apart from the more typical wizard or sorcerer, is the use of crystals. While crystals of all sorts have been linked to magical abilities within historic myth, within the realm Dungeons and Dragons, if one sees a crystal sword, wand, or eccentric crystal jewelry, one can assume she is meeting a psion of some sort. It is fairly worrisome, therefore, that psicrystals have been given so little attention until now.
But no longer is this a problem. With Psicrystals Expanded, DM’s and players alike have a plethora of new options, expanding (as the namesake) the options available to finally match those that are given to a spellcaster’s trusty familiar.
The Good: First of all, layout. It is surprising how many books (especially gaming books) are published with very little attention to detail or how a book “feels”. This one, however, is fantastic. The colors (in the non-print version) go well together, they don’t clash or cause a headache when looking at them for too long on the monitor. The order within each entry is presented in a very intuitive manner with an introduction, the prerequisites, how a particular psicrystal interacts with other psicrystals (and which ones a specific crystal cannot become), and finally the benefits of that particular psicrystal. And the tables included are well done and artful. Overall Psicrystals Expanded has an impressive layout.
The entries themselves are also well done. Each psicrystal is given a brief description (Why would you want this psicrystal? How does it come about?) and then immediately begins presenting information about it, including requirements to take that psicrystal, what other psicrystals it can or cannot become after becoming this one (or if it is already another one) and finally the benefits a particular psicrystal bestows.
Feats and monsters take up the remainder of the book. Most, though not all, of the feats are required to gain the above psicrystals, though there are a few that make those crystals even better (such as the psicrystal weapon feats) and the fleshcraft feat which is hinted that will be expanded upon in future supplements. The monsters are nicely done, the shardling, especially. Before, there had always been wonder about what happens when a psicrystal’s master dies, but no longer.
Finally, price. At less than $2, it’s an awesome value. Especially considering there are two files included in the download, a normal, color, file and a black and white, print-friendly, file. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to pay double this price.
The Not-so-Good: Understandably, everyone must work within their budget, but it would have been nice to see a picture or two within the book, something to break up the blocks of text. This is only a minor complaint, though, as the text and content was superb.
In a few places there was some confusion of terms (for instance in the table under psicrystal weapon it references Hardness adjustment, however, within the text it states that it is a Natural Armor increase) but this, too is relatively minor and only occurs in a couple of places.
The one thing is actually lacking from Psicrystals Expanded is a good amount of “fluff”. For those of you who aren’t aware of that term, fluff is the non-statistic, story information. It is entirely unnecessary to actually play, mechanically. However, it is essential to the flavor of the world. I found myself wondering more and more, “who are these fleshcrafters that insert gems into their bodies for benefits? Who first discovered how to turn a crysmal into a psicrysmal? Is there a guild or something that I could easily adapt and plug into my campaign?”
Overall, with the excellent layout, content and value, Psicrystals Expanded is a shining example of what psionic content can be. It is definitely worth purchasing.
But no longer is this a problem. With Psicrystals Expanded, DM’s and players alike have a plethora of new options, expanding (as the namesake) the options available to finally match those that are given to a spellcaster’s trusty familiar.
The Good: First of all, layout. It is surprising how many books (especially gaming books) are published with very little attention to detail or how a book “feels”. This one, however, is fantastic. The colors (in the non-print version) go well together, they don’t clash or cause a headache when looking at them for too long on the monitor. The order within each entry is presented in a very intuitive manner with an introduction, the prerequisites, how a particular psicrystal interacts with other psicrystals (and which ones a specific crystal cannot become), and finally the benefits of that particular psicrystal. And the tables included are well done and artful. Overall Psicrystals Expanded has an impressive layout.
The entries themselves are also well done. Each psicrystal is given a brief description (Why would you want this psicrystal? How does it come about?) and then immediately begins presenting information about it, including requirements to take that psicrystal, what other psicrystals it can or cannot become after becoming this one (or if it is already another one) and finally the benefits a particular psicrystal bestows.
Feats and monsters take up the remainder of the book. Most, though not all, of the feats are required to gain the above psicrystals, though there are a few that make those crystals even better (such as the psicrystal weapon feats) and the fleshcraft feat which is hinted that will be expanded upon in future supplements. The monsters are nicely done, the shardling, especially. Before, there had always been wonder about what happens when a psicrystal’s master dies, but no longer.
Finally, price. At less than $2, it’s an awesome value. Especially considering there are two files included in the download, a normal, color, file and a black and white, print-friendly, file. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to pay double this price.
The Not-so-Good: Understandably, everyone must work within their budget, but it would have been nice to see a picture or two within the book, something to break up the blocks of text. This is only a minor complaint, though, as the text and content was superb.
In a few places there was some confusion of terms (for instance in the table under psicrystal weapon it references Hardness adjustment, however, within the text it states that it is a Natural Armor increase) but this, too is relatively minor and only occurs in a couple of places.
The one thing is actually lacking from Psicrystals Expanded is a good amount of “fluff”. For those of you who aren’t aware of that term, fluff is the non-statistic, story information. It is entirely unnecessary to actually play, mechanically. However, it is essential to the flavor of the world. I found myself wondering more and more, “who are these fleshcrafters that insert gems into their bodies for benefits? Who first discovered how to turn a crysmal into a psicrysmal? Is there a guild or something that I could easily adapt and plug into my campaign?”
Overall, with the excellent layout, content and value, Psicrystals Expanded is a shining example of what psionic content can be. It is definitely worth purchasing.
