D&D Debuts Playtest for Psion Class

Wizards of the Coast is playtesting the Psion class for Dungeons & Dragons. Today, Wizards of the Coast provided a new Unearthed Arcana for the Psion, a new class for the current revised 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. The playtest includes base class rules plus four subclasses - the body-shifting Metamorph, the reality warping Psi Warper, the offensive-minded Psykinetic, and the Telepath.

The core mechanic of the Psion involves use of Psion Energy die. Players have a pool of energy dice that replenishes after a Long Rest, with the number and size of the dice determined by the Psion's level. These psion energy dice can either be rolled to increase results of various checks/saving throws or spent to fuel various Psion abilities.

While the Psion and psionics have a long tradition in D&D, they've only received a handful of subclasses in 5th Edition. If the Psion survives playtesting, it would mark the first time that Wizards of the Coast has added a new character class to D&D since the Artificer. Notably, the Psion and psionics are also heavily associated with Dark Sun, a post-apocalyptic campaign setting that many considered to be off the table for Fifth Edition due to the need to update parts of the setting to bring it current with modern sensibilities. However, the introduction of Wild talent feats (which replaces some Origin feats tied to backgrounds with psion-themed Feats) in the UA seems to suggest that Dark Sun is back on the table.

 

[Yaarel]

I don't mind them, but not as they are in the PHB. I'll probably end up changing them to some sort of focusing crystal that you need to keep on your person somewhere.

The 'crystals' are no better. The magic cannot be from any external source, especially a material component like a crystal, or diamond, or whatever.

According to the UA Psion, the class does magic "through the power of their minds".

Not diamonds. Not bat guano. Not crystals. Not goo.

 

[Yaarel]

Where does it describe these “mental waves” in the rules?

I am suggesting there are more flavor-appropriate ways to recognize if a psionic character is manifesting.

In a culture where psionics is normal, everyone will know what is going on.

I think skills are the way to go, like Stealth versus Perception, Bluff versus Insight. Arcana will know if magic is happening. I tend to make Insight (psychology) the go-to skill for psionics, but if Arcana is, I am fine with that.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I am suggesting there are more flavor-appropriate ways to recognize if a psionic character is manifesting.

Sure - but it needs to be in the rules. If you remove v/s/m components you need to replace them with something else. And I think some players might consider purple waves radiating from the caster’s head a bit too comic booky.

In a culture where psionics is normal, everyone will know what is going on.

Most D&D settings, psionics is not normal.

 

[SkidAce]

...So I guess Jedi can get away with not using hand gestures if they're full restrained. Maybe there's a special talent that lets them sometimes ignore somatic components.

Maybe they are expending more spell points/casting at a higher level and we cant tell.

 

[Mournblade94]

We'll have to disagree. I can't see anything you've listed as a reason for WotC to avoid publishing Dark Sun. Avoiding climate change?

The market is very politically charged now. With half elves, alignment and orcs being inherently evil causing a backlash i can't see how Darksun wouldn't bring the same market forces out to complain about Darksun. They'd have to get rid of alot of what made Darksun interesting to appease the new market pressure.

 

[Remathilis]

It's playable, certainly. It's got some good ideas. But it feels cramped and overcomplicated. No willingness to take risks or challenge the game's assumptions; everything must be slotted into the existing systems, and then a layer of mostly meaningless mechanics piled on top to suggest novelty

I don't understand the need for endless novelty. I played 3.5 when you could have a wizard, a psion, a binder, a shadow mage, an incarnate, and a warmain all playing their own special version of D&D with their unique mechanics and interactions. You know what? It wasn't good. No class beyond psionics ever got an expansion book, so all you ever had was the main book. Nobody knew what your powers did, and nobody could follow the interactions to determine if you were interpreting them right. And that's ignoring when they were straight to better or worse than the other classes.

Spellcasting might be boring and overdone, but I can toss this into my Eberron or Ravenloft game and it's not going to be more work than a sorcerer of artificer would. At this point, that's worth more than the novelty of spell points or massive powers that can be molded 12 different ways.

 

[Yaarel]

Sure - but it needs to be in the rules. If you remove v/s/m components you need to replace them with something else. And I think some players might consider purple waves radiating from the caster’s head a bit too comic booky.

Heh, to be clear. The spell components are worthless and pointless, and do nothing for game balance anyway. Ignoring them makes little or no difference to gameplay.

One time I carefully went thru every 5e (2014) spell in the game that had a costly spell component. I was honestly shocked at how ineffective and pointless they are. Most have nothing to do with regulating frequency of casting.

Only about four spells arguably mattered, like Resurrection and Clone. But these few spells can be written with better spell description to ensure balance.

I think 'nostalgia' is the only reason the component entry exists, because there is no mechanical reason for them. Even old school renaissance games have deleted the component entry as an unhelpful complication.

Importantly, we are playing 5e. We have mechanics like skills that never existed in 1e and differ from 3e. We can use skills to recognize spellcasters. Anyone can attempt an Intelligence (Arcana) check, whether proficient or not.

Most D&D settings, psionics is not normal.

Psionics is normal in Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, and Eberron. It exists in the D&D default settings.

 

[Maxperson]

The 'crystals' are no better. The magic cannot be from any external source, especially a material component like a crystal, or diamond, or whatever.

According to the UA Psion, the class does magic "through the power of their minds".

Not diamonds. Not bat guano. Not crystals. Not goo.

It's not from an external source. There are ways to focus the mind to allow it more power and achieve greater things. The magic still 100% comes from the psion.

 

[Maxperson]

Whenever we have any kind of discourse, Max, I lay out a series of points generally based on history, facts, and at least a rough approximation of the understanding that humans don't always see eye to eye on things and may in fact argue various issues contentiously.

Then you nay say it.

Take a look at the FIRST LINE of your post in response to mine. Rather than acknowledge that I'm building up a series of points as the overall explanation as an aggregate of reasons, you present it as a single datapoint with no connection or context to anything else and literally just nay say it.

"I think you're overstating" as if it were the end-all be-all of the case, rather than just one aspect of a much larger and more complex problem.

If the climate change allegory were the only thing I was arguing was the single problem... yeah. That'd be overstating it. But when it's just one complication among many, it's not overstating anything. It's outlining one small part of something larger.

You then go through each line to try and dispute them one by one without any context of the others. Yes. The designers would need to design stuff. Stuff which specifically doesn't align with the rest of their historical design goals. Which causes friction and a potential problem with their "ONE D&D" brand concept where everything is as homogenous as possible.

It really makes it seem like you read my posts with the intent to respond, not with the intent to understand.

I didn't discount anything. I laid out my counter arguments one by one, and then tied them together in the end. Everything you listed was a very easy fix or in the case of the climate aspect, very minor as an issue. Only classes would have to be more than a minor amount of work. Races would be if you wanted them done right, but could be accounted for with some feats if you wanted to save time and effort.

Taken in total, a several easy minor fixes, one minor issues, and one significant fix that requires some designing from designers, isn't enough to kill the setting. Just because I separate my responses and go point by point, doesn't mean that I'm not acknowledging that you were building a case for the aggregate of those issues.

To just dismiss the counter arguments and final point with "nuh uh!" or "You're just naysaying it" grossly misrepresents what my post was about.

 

[Yaarel]

It's not from an external source. There are ways to focus the mind to allow it more power and achieve greater things. The magic still 100% comes from the psion.

But no crystals necessary. I can focus my mind fine without special crystals.

For psionic magic it is the mind (soul, spirit), only.