Psionics question - crystal shard

[StreamOfTheSky]

I hate and passionately ignore CPsi for stupid errata like Crystal Shard. (Another one limits you to one astral construct at a time even though all other casters have no such restriction...and then introduces a PrC in that very same book in order to gain back the ability to summon multiple contructs you originally had before the bloody book came out! Classy.)

Really, as they were nerfing Crystal Shard like this, at the same time they were giving wizards and sorcerers the orb spells, Wings of Flurry, and more. And as someone else said, direct damage is weak to begin with. Battle Field control and save-or-lose (depending on the spell, the "save" part is optional) are the most devastating things a caster can do, and in particular psionics gives a nice amount of powers that can instantly end a fight. whenever my Telepath was given a single powerful enemy encounter, she'd automatically shoot for Brain Lock, cause yikes. If it works, battle over.

 

[krupintupple]

My problem is that the psion already overshadows the group sorcerer with the psion having far more variety in powers vs spells, and the psion being able to change between types of energy for more damage (fire, cold, sonic, electrical)... now, with him more easily able to overcome SR than the sorcerer, it will be an even bigger deal.

Also, we played a point buy system and the guy playing the psion maxed out his INT and CON, but the rest of his stats are average to below average. So, he's got a lot of hit points...

i DM a campaign and i can tell you that until i starting considering the 'psion' question, i felt they were too powerful and really overshadowing the 'other' casters of the group.

something that is paramount is ensuring that there are at least 3+ encounters a day; if a psion can unload fully augmented powers in one battle, knowing that it'll probably be his only one, he'll really 'go nova' and clean up. teach him to reserve his power points and he'll thank you later on. i find that being a non-melee class, psions tend to start buffing at the merest hint of trouble - exploit this once in a while to get them to part with a few power points, if you don't feel like tacking on a whole additional encounter or two.

also, a sorcerer of the same level has a wider access, as well as uses. at the end of the day, the psion may be spent, but after about level 5, i've yet to encounter any competent sorcerer who's ever without spells at the end of the day - they just get so many uses that it's hard to run that tap dry.

you've mentioned his high scores are con. and int., and the rest are poor? this means he'll be a prime target for touch attacks, grapples, trips or anything involving a reflex save. you don't want to punish him specifically for his choices, but when confronted with an augmented ego whip, everyone with cha. as a dump stat begins to cringe.

 

[NewJeffCT]

I don't see what is so good about crystal shard. Direct damage is generally inferior to battlefield control spells anyways. Is Xd6 damage at Xth lv such a big deal in your groups?

When fighting a barbed devil with a Spell Resistance of 23, or a caster that invokes the Spell Resistance spell (say, level 11 for SR:23), then damage spells that bypass SR like Crystal Shard can become pretty important because the group sorcerer at level 9 only has a couple of 4th level spells to choose from - and his 3rd level spells were/are Fireball, Lightning Bolt and Tongues, so nothing that can bypass SR there, either.

 

[NewJeffCT]

i DM a campaign and i can tell you that until i starting considering the 'psion' question, i felt they were too powerful and really overshadowing the 'other' casters of the group.

something that is paramount is ensuring that there are at least 3+ encounters a day; if a psion can unload fully augmented powers in one battle, knowing that it'll probably be his only one, he'll really 'go nova' and clean up. teach him to reserve his power points and he'll thank you later on. i find that being a non-melee class, psions tend to start buffing at the merest hint of trouble - exploit this once in a while to get them to part with a few power points, if you don't feel like tacking on a whole additional encounter or two.

also, a sorcerer of the same level has a wider access, as well as uses. at the end of the day, the psion may be spent, but after about level 5, i've yet to encounter any competent sorcerer who's ever without spells at the end of the day - they just get so many uses that it's hard to run that tap dry.

you've mentioned his high scores are con. and int., and the rest are poor? this means he'll be a prime target for touch attacks, grapples, trips or anything involving a reflex save. you don't want to punish him specifically for his choices, but when confronted with an augmented ego whip, everyone with cha. as a dump stat begins to cringe.

Unfortunately, with my limited amount of gaming time, I tend to run things with one big encounter per session because running 3+ encounters would take our group 2-3 sessions.

 

[Runestar]

When fighting a barbed devil with a Spell Resistance of 23, or a caster that invokes the Spell Resistance spell (say, level 11 for SR:23), then damage spells that bypass SR like Crystal Shard can become pretty important because the group sorcerer at level 9 only has a couple of 4th level spells to choose from - and his 3rd level spells were/are Fireball, Lightning Bolt and Tongues, so nothing that can bypass SR there, either.

You have a 50% chance of missing the barbed devil at 9th lv (assuming medium-sized, a bab of +4 and dex of 14). 9d6 averages out to 32 damage, not really very impressive vs its 126 hp.

Which is why, like I said, you ignore direct damage, much less go sorcerer when the focused specialist variant from complete mage actually ends up giving you more slots than a sorc.

Take a look at the PHB spell list. Grease, glitterdust, web, stinking cloud, solid fog and evard's black tentacles all ignore sr, and some ignore saves as well. Alternatively, haste the party and leave the damage dealing to the fighters.

Crystal shard seems like it can be situationally very useful, but to me, 9PP for 9d6 damage just seems way too exhorbitant a price to pay...

 

[Starbuck_II]

When fighting a barbed devil with a Spell Resistance of 23, or a caster that invokes the Spell Resistance spell (say, level 11 for SR:23), then damage spells that bypass SR like Crystal Shard can become pretty important because the group sorcerer at level 9 only has a couple of 4th level spells to choose from - and his 3rd level spells were/are Fireball, Lightning Bolt and Tongues, so nothing that can bypass SR there, either.

Then I say use another no SR spell:
Bands of Steel: He saves and get entangled or he fails and is helpless.

Really, I think this is a case of a badly built Sorc and a decent buuilt Psion: mostly utility and damage no good Control spells.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Then I say use another no SR spell:
Bands of Steel: He saves and get entangled or he fails and is helpless.

Really, I think this is a case of a badly built Sorc and a decent buuilt Psion: mostly utility and damage no good Control spells.

Yes, part of the problem is the sorcerer is not built very well... the guy playing one normally plays wizards and took a few unusual feats, despite objections from everybody else at the table (like, Toughness at 1st level and again at 3rd)

The guy playing the psion is a pretty crafty player as well.

 

[Runestar]

Well, for starters, the sorc's spell selection is not particularly good. If he wants to play a blaster (he has both fireball and lightning bolt), he may be better off playing a warmage, who has the ability to cast spontaneously from a list of damage spells (and orb spells ignore sr).

Tongues is the classic example of a spell which is better being cast off a scroll or wand, since it is useful only in 1% of situations and useless in the rest (I encourage my players to take the spontaneous divination variant from complete champion if possible).

What is the sorc's repertoire of spells again?

 

[Thanee]

I hate and passionately ignore CPsi for stupid errata like Crystal Shard. (Another one limits you to one astral construct at a time even though all other casters have no such restriction...

Do you also limit psionic-users to the restrictions everyone else has to even things out? There are a lot of restrictions they do not have to suffer from...

Yes, part of the problem is the sorcerer is not built very well... the guy playing one normally plays wizards and took a few unusual feats, despite objections from everybody else at the table (like, Toughness at 1st level and again at 3rd)

The guy playing the psion is a pretty crafty player as well.

That is certainly the core of the unbalance here... despite the fact, that Psions are overpowered in general (especially true for certain playing styles).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Runestar]

Do you also limit psionic-users to the restrictions everyone else has to even things out? There are a lot of restrictions they do not have to suffer from...

Such as? Psionics is one of the better balanced mechanics out there...