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

[Maxperson]

In addition to this @Sabathius42 the sidebar in the PHB has this line "Raw magic is the stuff of creation, the mute and mindless will of existence, permeating every bit of matter and present in every manifestation of energy throughout the multiverse. "

If we take this to be literal, then magic exists in the kinetic energy of swinging an axe to chop down a tree, or in the electrical energy needed for your heart to beat or your brain to function.

This makes "psionics are foreign to magic" mean they would have to be foreign to existence itself, which just does not work on many levels (unless you count Far Realms and make it solely based there, except even the Far Realms uses magic)

Magic exists inside of everything, but that doesn't make everything magic as the game defines it. We know from the UA and Crawford's statements that psionics is sometimes magic and sometimes not.

 

[Maxperson]

I would point out that Sir Terry's works are, in fact, satire.

And utterly brilliant satire. I love how he takes real world issues and brings attention to them in hilarious ways.

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams with that "aren't science fiction and fantasy basically the same thing" I must admit.

 

[Maxperson]

I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams with that "aren't science fiction and fantasy basically the same thing" I must admit.

Seriously? An admission to trolling?

 

[Hussar]

Science Fantasy isn't really a genre though. It's a lazy portmanteau. Just because something is "softer" SF, doesn't make it "science fantasy".

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

Seriously? An admission to trolling?

Well you can think of it that way, if you want to be grumpy.

I prefer to think of it as "Starting an interesting conversation that gets people to think about things they enjoy."

 

[Hussar]

When you say they are the same thing, what do you mean? That they share tropes? Sure, that's obvious.

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

When you say they are the same thing, what do you mean? That they share tropes? Sure, that's obvious.

Well that, and often times, they only difference between them is "because Magic!" or "because Science!".

And sure, you can go deeper into them, but at the most basic and simple level, that's the primary difference. And I would understand any other POV's on the subject, and those are perfectly valid! Just as much as mine is. Just be sure to not be a jackwagon about it, y'know? Don't insist your interpretation is correct or that someone else's interpretation is wrong or they are bad for thinking it.

 

[Guest 6801328]

we are not using the terms sci-fi and sci-fantasy in the same way. While the show Doctor Who may be science-fiction, the science in it is science-fantasy. The genre is sci-fi, but the "science" is sci-fantasy. Does that make sense?

Yes but I find that to be a distortionary use of the word. You are conflating the common meaning of fantasy with the genre meaning.

A version of the Arthurian legend in which Merlin is conducting non-magical laboratory experiments does not suddenly become science fiction.

 

[Hussar]

Well that, and often times, they only difference between them is "because Magic!" or "because Science!".

And sure, you can go deeper into them, but at the most basic and simple level, that's the primary difference. And I would understand any other POV's on the subject, and those are perfectly valid! Just as much as mine is. Just be sure to not be a jackwagon about it, y'know? Don't insist your interpretation is correct or that someone else's interpretation is wrong or they are bad for thinking it.

Well, yes, they are both fiction. And, since the "science" in SF is often made up (with varying degrees of plausibility), sure, it looks like magic. But, again, that's not what differentiates the two genres. I mean, ok, a magic wand and a sonic screwdriver are essentially the same thing. Fair enough. Or a Harry Potter wand and a Phaser are not really all that different.

But, that doesn't mean that that's the primary difference between the genres. It's generally theme that differentiates the two, not trope. You can have robots in Fantasy and you can have ma.... err... psionics in SF. But, again, that's never been the argument for what differentiates the two. Heck, Quest for Fire is a SF novel despite being about early humans discovering fire.

But, at the end of the day, if you're arguing that there is no difference between psionics and magic, well, I'm right there with you on that. Totally agree there. But, if you're arguing that the two genres are the same simply because they share tropes, then no, I totally disagree.