Who got Psionics in my Dnd?

[Dannyalcatraz]

Began with Eldritch Wizardry in 1975/76, so, pretty much, it's been part of D&D since the earliest days.

Good to know- I have those books, but never played under that ruleset. I was introduced to D&D in '78 with the 1Ed AD&D PHB...and no, our DM wouldn't allow us to look at the other 2 books.

Ahhh...good times, good times.

 

[Starbuck_II]

Hmm, if that is true then got to w00t for Brian Blume. Always liked Psionics in my fantasy, especially over normal Arcane (fireball style) or Divine magic.

Totally agree with that sentiment.

I'm glad that 3.5 got the balance right though. I mean 2nd edition and 3.0 were way out there with Psionics (3.0 being both under and over at same time, but was alot of fun).

 

[Fifth Element]

I believe it was Mr. Gygax himself, for whatever reason. I don't like them in my fantasy, and don't use them at all. But I understand that many do like them, and therefore don't have an issue with them being included.

 

[Jackelope King]

Interestingly enough, psionics actually represented my tastes for how fantasy magic should work better than Vancean magic. So much so that I dumped traditional casters in one 3.5 game for a high psionics game set during a stalled Age of Exploration. Vancean magic never really worked for me, other than that it was dirt-simple to introduce to newbies at low-levels.

 

[pawsplay]

If you look at the literature, Andre Norton's Witchworld has psionics. Watt-Evans Ethshar stories has two kinds of psionics: warlockry and witchcraft are both based on mental powers. Then there's the old Sprague de Camp stuff, which had all kinds of stuff going on, everything from hulking barbarians to Cthulhu to telepathic aliens to dragons.

 

[der_kluge]

I think it was probably a natural extension of the idea of people "reading other people's minds" and use telepathy and mind-control, and having out of body experiences - this kind of stuff.

Originally, I think you could get "wild talents" and not everyone had them - yes, a way to make certain characters more powerful than others - completely random abilities!

I had a character in 2nd edition roll the ability to summon outer planar creatures. And he got every sub-ability that that one relied on to boot. Ridiculously powerful stuff.

 

[Holy Bovine]

When I first started with AD&D around 1983 (as opposed to Basic D&D in 1981) I was just starting to read a 'new' author Katherine Kurtz. Her Deryni sagas of psionically endowed warriors absolutely inspired me and I have always had an enthusiasm for psionics in fantasy. It is rare that I find others who think like I do but there have been a few times. Now that I am thinking about it I think it is high time I went out and read some Kurtz Deryni fantasy.

 

[teitan]

But where did they come from? What was the inspiration?

The 1e rules seems so strange and different.

That is something I kind of miss about the old days, that everything had its own system and things like Psionics actually FELT different because they had different rules.

 

[Mistwell]

But where did they come from? What was the inspiration?

The 1e rules seems so strange and different.

I heard at the time it was the Deryni novels by Katherine Kurtz, which first came out in 1970. I am pretty sure a few 1e magic items are also inspired by those books. I seem to recall a version of the ward cubes taken from them. Transfer portals may also be in there somewhere.

 

[Psion]

But where did they come from? What was the inspiration?

The 1e rules seems so strange and different.

Pawsplay listed some, but I'd add Kurtz's Deryni and Bradley's Darkover novels.

At the time, many novels featured magic (or psionics, though not all novels used that term for what was essentially what we think of as psionics) as a natural talent, something you could be born with, not learned.

The way classes were designed at the time, classes were very "education and vocation" oriented, more to do with training and experience. Classes as a way of modeling "developing natural talents" didn't really come until later.

A 1e Psionicist class appeared in the pages of Dragon, and they were popular in some groups. Psionics disappeared from the 2e core rules, but came back in a supplement, and were a central feature of the dark sun setting.