Scribe
Legend
That seems to be a lot. Subclasses become Classes?
D&D (2024) Githzerai Psion? Thri-kreen Psion? Where's My Psion?
- Thread starter Dragonhelm
- Start date
That seems to be a lot. Subclasses become Classes?
Corinnguard
Hero
A goblin subspecies that definitely needs to be brought back for 5e.
Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
Already made my Level Up version. It's a heritage gift.
A goblin subspecies that definitely needs to be brought back for 5e.
EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
Well, 13 of them already exist, Artificer + 12 PHB classes.
The others, with varying degrees of likelihood for actually getting developed as actual classes, are:
- Alchemist†, the chemist-as-magician, who uses magical ingredients and concoctions to control the world...or themselves.
- Assassin†, the warrior-of-shadow, whose skill with all the subtle ways to stalk (and un-alive) someone transcends mortal limits.
- Avenger†, the warrior-of-zeal, whose absolute focus is both shield and sword against their enemies, who executes the turncoat apostate.
- Invoker, the emissary-as-magician, who calls down disaster upon the foes of the faith, Elijah calling fire down against the altar of Baal.
- "Machinist" (not my fav name), the warrior-of-technology, who uses guns, machines, and tools to overcome their foes.
- Psion† (etc.), the telepath-as-magician, who draws on ESP, the paranormal, occult "science" etc. to bend the rules of reality in their favor.
- Shaman, the spiritualist-as-magician, who straddles the line between material and spirit, the bridge connecting these realms.
- Summoner, the overseer-as-magician, whose magic lies in getting other beings to use magic for her.
- Swordmage†, the warrior-as-magician, for whom swordplay is magic, and magic is swordplay (or other weapons), one and inseparable.
- Warden, the warrior-of-the-land, who wears Nature's power like a cloak, and wreaks Her wrath where he walks.
- Warlord†, the warrior-of-tactics, who transcends limits by cooperating with others rather than purely through her own mettle.
Keep in mind, 4e had 25 total classes, including things like Vampire that I'm not sure really should've been their own classes, and things like Seeker which were just Not Very Good both thematically and mechanically. Almost all of them have equivalent or near-equivalent classes in 3.5e and/or PF1e...but that's because those games have a LOT more than 25 proper classes; even if you ignore its "hybrid" and "alternate" classes, there are 29 different base classes for PF1e. (Adding those, it's somewhere in the 40s!)
Paul Farquhar
Legend
This is the point I keep getting at. Why would they like it? In particular, why would WotCs core demographic - teens - like it? What does it have that makes it cool and interesting?
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
People like psionics. I liked a number of WotC's incarnations. As did a lot of the folks in various psionics threads that I asked about it. If they had asked the proper questions, we would likely have a psion now.
As for being cool to teens, it's just as cool as fighting, clericing or wizarding. Mental powers are cool and interesting in and of themselves.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
What people? People who were 1 year old last time psionics was part of D&D? I don't think so. The word has lost any meaning. Star Wars has space magic. Dune has space magic. Mass Effect has space magic. But no one uses the word "psionics". It's a relic of the 70s. "Psychic" at least retains some meaning.
Fighting and wizarding are all over children's fiction, and even more so in the video games they play. Some have clerics(priests) too, but it's losing traction a bit. If you were to come up with something modelled on a currently popular video game, then you might have something that "people" - the people you want to sell to - like.
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
It's the same difference. Star Wars space magic = psionics. Dune space magic = psionics. Stranger Things 11 = psionics. Teens aren't stupid. They will be able to see that psionics is mental magic like Star Wars, Stranger Things, and Dune.........................and think it's cool. Hell, even if they didn't see any mind magic, the book offering up something cool like that would interest people.
Being able to play 11 from Stranger Things all by itself would bring a lot of sales of a psionics book.
Mind of tempest
(he/him)advocate for 5e psionics
it as a concept if not by name still stands it can be reborn as soon as we have substance to it, it needs definition in areas and to be made cool that is all it takes.
doubt it could sell a book all by itself but I got eberron for the artificers the rest was just cool stuff
Paul Farquhar
Legend
Which is my point. You cannot just stick the word “psionics” on the cover and expect people to know what its about. It needs to be EXPLAINED. Which means you need to stop being so effing woolly about it.
Calling your book something like “Secrets of the Far Realms” would be a better title than “Psionics Handbook”, since the Far Realms is mentioned pretty often in modern D&D.
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