Unearthed Arcana Why UA Psionics are never going to work in 5e.

[Chaosmancer]

If we are throwing anecdotes out, most of what I have heard about Psionics from 3.5 and Pathfinder have generally been discussions of "I love my X character, they can heal better than the cleric and throw out [arbitrarily high number of dice] for damage every round and as long as a have [technobabble of abilities] up then the enemy can't even hit me."

Granted, that and the "my character is a [list of 6 different classes and prestige classes with a race that is half-template jargon]" are about the only 3.5 stories I ever hear beyond the bad stuff, so I can acknowledge that a small sample size is probably at fault.

 

[Undrave]

If we are throwing anecdotes out, most of what I have heard about Psionics from 3.5 and Pathfinder have generally been discussions of "I love my X character, they can heal better than the cleric and throw out [arbitrarily high number of dice] for damage every round and as long as a have [technobabble of abilities] up then the enemy can't even hit me."

Granted, that and the "my character is a [list of 6 different classes and prestige classes with a race that is half-template jargon]" are about the only 3.5 stories I ever hear beyond the bad stuff, so I can acknowledge that a small sample size is probably at fault.

Same here really... 3.5 was a Powergamer's paradise as far as I can tell.

 

[Maxperson]

If we are throwing anecdotes out, most of what I have heard about Psionics from 3.5 and Pathfinder have generally been discussions of "I love my X character, they can heal better than the cleric and throw out [arbitrarily high number of dice] for damage every round and as long as a have [technobabble of abilities] up then the enemy can't even hit me."

Granted, that and the "my character is a [list of 6 different classes and prestige classes with a race that is half-template jargon]" are about the only 3.5 stories I ever hear beyond the bad stuff, so I can acknowledge that a small sample size is probably at fault.

Nah. They weren't that good. The cleric could heal much better than the Psion could. They also could not put out an arbitrarily high number of dice. The numbers were limited, and to even match a 10d6 fireball, they had to use enough points to make it a 5th level spell, which wizards did not have to do. They were strong, but has been noted above, they weren't even tier 1.

 

[Maxperson]

Same here really... 3.5 was a Powergamer's paradise as far as I can tell.

Only insofar as every casting class was a powergamer's paradise. They were tier 2, so a true powergamer wouldn't even pick a Psion to play. They'd go with one of the tier 1 classes.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

The power point augment system of 3.5e psionics, is basically an ability that all spell-casting classes in 5e have now.

 

[grimslade]

Yeah 5E spellcasters beat up the psion and took all his stuff.

 

[Krachek]

Official discussion about UA.
UA psionic

go to timer 23:00

 

[Fenris-77]

I feel like this thread could be played as a sped-up gif with some slow British sportscaster commentary dubbed over it. I think that would be awesome.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

Official discussion about UA.
UA psionic

go to timer 23:00

Timestamps of the video (not mine, taken from Reddit)

0:00 - Opening discussions

3:42 - How is Jeremy surviving after 7 weeks of social distancing

5:03 - Bart failed on his homework, leading into what they are each watching and playing

9:06 - Q: How are you handling the action economy of summoning abilities?

11:53 - Q: Does psionic recovery make a die usable again?

13:36 - Q: Psionic blast, was this cool spell for wizards and warlocks. Is there a reason it wasn't included?

17:16 - Q: None of the psionic abilities from recent UA are associated with abilities?

21:19 - Q: Was the druid's starry form inspired by thought form? (THIS WAS MY QUESTION, GET HYPE)

23:05 - Deeper dive into the UA's subclasses - Psi Knight, Fighter subclass

39:06 - Soulknife, Rogue subclass

54:47 - Brief note on the Psionic Soul, Sorcerer subclass

58:55 - Sign off

 

[JiffyPopTart]

No. They are both fictions, but the Fantasy genre is explicitly castles, wizards, dragons, etc. Sci-Fi is called Sci-Fi and not Fantasy for a reason.

Aren't we at the point in fiction where there is so much crossover and blending of everything that the terms Sci-Fi and Fantasy aren't black and white?

Star Wars is very much a war movie....a sci-fi movie...and a fantasy movie depending on what portion of the plot you focus on.

The Dresden Files is both a detective story and a fantasy story, but no castles to be found there.

Ghostbusters....sci-fi and fantasy.

Dune....sci-fi and fantasy.

Dying Earth stories...sci-fi and fantasy.

Steampunk in general...sci-fi and fantasy.

Stranger Things....sci-fi and fantasy.

There are certainly things out there that stick to the original definitions, but there are enough crossovers that there are more Resee Cups out there than chocolate bars or jars of peanut butter.