Unearthed Arcana New Psion update, Dungeons and Dragons Unearthed Arcana

WotC updates the psion in new playtest document.
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A new Unearthed Arcana is up, featuring a revised version of the Psion class. Per a D&D Beyond article, the Psion has seen considerable changes. Feedback for the class focused into three main areas - Psionic Energy Dice, Psionic Modes, and Spellcasting. Psionic Energy Dice are now more flexible and easier to obtain - a new feature called Psionic Reserves allows players to regain uses of Psionic Energy Dice and Telepathic Propel and Telepathic Connection allow players to use those abilities one time each without expending energy dice. Meanwhile, Psionic Modes has been cut from the class, with various aspects of the ability being incorporated into various subclasses as new features. Finally, the Psion now has an updated and expanded spelllist. The UA also contains seven brand new spells and updated versions of existing spells as well.

Additionally, the Metamorph, Psykinetic, and Telepath have all received updates. The Metamorph's abilities now often feature a roll of the Psionic Energy Die while they're being expended. The Psykinetic gains a Stronger Telekinesis feature with an improved Mage Hand spell use. Also, players can now use Telekinetic Propel without expending a Psionic Energy Dice. Finally, the Telepath has a new Telepathic Distraction feature that lets you interfere with another creature's attack roll if it's within range of your telepathy. Scramble Minds was redesigned to reduce the number of dice rolls needed to keep combat from getting bogged down.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer

Unfortunately due to their focus testing metrics, a vocal few apparently can deny any innovation. Here's another bland 9 level spellcaster slop class that will offend no one and delight no one.

The fact that its psionics alone means you have about a 20% disapproval rating no matter WHAT it is. The people who will never use the class shouldn't really get a say in how it is designed.
Precisely.

When you need more than a supermajority to get any option accepted, psionics was never ever going to make it.

They could hit 50%, maybe 60% if they did particularly well. Hitting over 70% was never going to happen. Almost nothing in D&D genuinely makes more than 70% of players happy.
 

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Calling survey results the “Vocal Few” is a reach.
It's not all of the survey results.

It's that, at least during 5.0, in order for anything new to make it out of UA, it had to exceed 70% approval. If it didn't exceed 70% approval on the very first pass, it usually got completely eliminated, without any effort to try to fix it. That's why the playtest Sorcerer and Warlock disappeared after only a single playtest packet, for example, and then we got the execrable slop (which really was "spellcaster with no features", for the Sorcerer!) that they actually published.

So...yeah. "Vocal few" is completely accurate.
 

Dice. We all like dice.
Not necessarily! I like dice only up to a limit. I hated the "proficiency dice" mechanic that Mearls adored. He preserved it, in flagrant violation of the internal "70%+ or it's out" rule, until he finally could not justify keeping it. That's why Proficiency has the rate and scaling it has, by the way. It's (rounded down) averages of d4, d6, d8, d10, d12

(This "I'm in charge, the things I love get protection from removal until the hue and cry is so loud we cannot ignore it" thing is just one among many reasons why I found the "D&D Next" playtest nearly unbearable by the end.)
 


When do we get to be in the interesting experimental phase of 5E design rather than Malibu wizard with a new hat?
Incarnum was released 5 years into 3rd edition. Tome of Battle, Tome of Battle was released 6 years in.

We're ELEVEN YEARS into 5th, and it's the same design that are minor variations which they can have Chat GPT crap out on a lunch break.

"Sorry pal, Charisma divine full caster is the best I can do"
 

I believe it is the cancer of 5E multiclassing. Designing and balancing classes against experience of how multiclassing in expected has stifled class design for a decade.

So to avoid the broken unexpected edge cases that can’t possibly be planned with eccentric new mechanics, class design sticking to the known quantity of spell slots makes a simpler class design and attempt for balance.
I strongly feel 5E multiclassing should have been only with feats. The magic initiate should have had follow up feats granting higher level slots and other features.
 

When do we get to be in the interesting experimental phase of 5E design rather than Malibu wizard with a new hat?
Incarnum was released 5 years into 3rd edition. Tome of Battle, Tome of Battle was released 6 years in.

We're ELEVEN YEARS into 5th, and it's the same design that are minor variations which they can have Chat GPT crap out on a lunch break.

"Sorry pal, Charisma divine full caster is the best I can do"
You are not, if you want that look at third party stuff. Perhaps if it get popular enough it may migrate to the main game. Wizards have become very conservative because it appears that conservative is profitable, more profitable than being experimental.
The experiments will be in the third party space.
If you want that then look there and incorporate the stuff you find interesting.
 

You are not, if you want that look at third party stuff. Perhaps if it get popular enough it may migrate to the main game. Wizards have become very conservative because it appears that conservative is profitable, more profitable than being experimental.
The experiments will be in the third party space.
If you want that then look there and incorporate the stuff you find interesting.
Or maybe I just keep pressuring the company I want to support to make the thing I want? They did that sort of thing before, they can do it again.
 


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