D&D (2024) Githzerai Psion? Thri-kreen Psion? Where's My Psion?

Yaarel said:

The only solution is if the community of opposing Psion fans figure out ways to make peace with each other.

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Ruin Explorer said:

Yeah and it's not even hard to do this. But people insist on pissing around with half-arsed takes.

That said, let's be real for one second - Sorcerers don't pass this test.

They don't even come close to passing this test. By the same logic, 5E Sorcerers absolutely 100% should not exist. DND Next Sorcerers were different enough that they could maybe make a valid claim to exist, but 5E? Including 5E 2024? No. Those are just reskinned Wizards. Or maybe reskinned Bards.

So why does this test get applied to one and not the other? Sorcerer has less of a history in D&D than Psion.

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Paul Farquhar said:

What would you call me, someone who feels most comfortable with the 1st edition system? Sits outside the normal class system, anyone might acquire weird X-Men type powers, monsters specifically designed to punish characters with psionics?

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Yaarel said:

Honestly, I would hate it if WotC created a Psion that I hated.

(I can sympathize with other psionic fans if they got the "wrong" Psion.)

The only solution is if the community of opposing Psion fans figure out ways to make peace with each other.


Personally, I feel the Psion works best using the Warlock chassis but be its own class with its own flavor. No Aberration flavor, let the Goo Warlock and even the Aberrant Sorcerer cover that. The psionic magic is natural and is an aspect of ones own "soul", including the ki, spirit, and mind. Psionic spells never uses material components, and also there is psionic magic that isnt spells, such as class features. Really, the Warlock is a great chassis. Laserllama is my favorite indy Psion. Despite I want to avoid fringe mechanics, the short-rest spell points, with slot-9 spells, is simpler and more balanced, and better in every way.

I think the Rogue class, with a skill focused mechanic, should handle the 2e Psionicist flavor. Meanwhile the Warlock chassis handles the fullcaster mage Psion.

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CleverNickName said:

But there are psions all over the 5th Edition D&D books. I've played several of them over the years...here's how I did it.

1. Petition my DM to use the Spell Points optional rule (in the DMG). Sometimes they say yes, but it's not a big deal if they say no. It just "feels" more like a classic D&D psion to me, but I can deal.
2. I like to start with the Githyanki ancestry species (from MP:MotM). This is a matter of personal preference; any species will do. I've also done Human and Shadar-kai.
3. I usually go with the Sorcerer class, and the Aberrant Mind subclass (from TCoE). It's really the only sorcerer I play these days.

• Some folks want psions be Intelligence-based instead of Charisma. If so, choose the Wizard class and the Graviturgy subclass (from EGtW). It's a pretty cool subclass even if you're not going for "5E psion."
• Some folks want psions be half-casters instead of full. I don't, but if I did I would probably just take some levels of Fighter, Monk, or Rogue. Less work for everyone, right?
• Some folks want psions to be non-casters. I've played a couple...the Fighter class with the Psi Warrior subclass, or the Rouge class with the Soulknife subclass (both in TCoE). The PW is more fun than the SK, IMO, but YMMV.

4. And then I would always refer to my "spells" as "powers," my chosen class as "psion," and so forth.

But I get it, some people want Wizards of the Coast to ensconce the Psion class in the list of "official" D&D classes, the way they did with the Artificer. I guess that to them, it's less about getting to play a psion, and more about having a psion listed in the official books...a way to make it more valid, more official. That's a good thing to want, but it has nothing to do with me playing the character I want to play.

And other people don't want Wizards of the Coast to create anything new, because of a litany of reasons involving gaming licenses, intellectual properties, and years-old grudges. The implication is that Wizards of the Coast will mess it up, has already messed it up, and the matter is settled as far as they are concerned. And...well, I don't know what to say to that. I'm playing D&D with my friends, not flexing my brand allegiance (or disaffection) to the greater gaming community.

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Micah Sweet said:

I personally feel the 3pp I mentioned are just superior (to me) models of the psion concept than what others (including WotC) have offered for it. If you like using WotC rules instead, of course that's fine too.

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DEFCON 1 said:

You make an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer and cross out 'Charisma' under the Spellcasting Ability heading and write in 'Intelligence'. And then wherever you see the words 'Far Realm' in any of the fluff that you write down in your background or spells or whatnot... you come up with whatever other narrative term you wish to use to explain your character's mental powers.

And then when you show the character to your DM and ask that this be allowed... and they get pissy that you dared to try and change your spellcasting ability for your Sorcerer... you tell them to just get over it. Changing a spellcasting ability is SO inconsequential of a change that you should feel free to walk away from any table where that schmuck of a DM tells you No.

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LuisCarlos17f said:

I can you in exclusive preview an image of the psio class updated and according the preferences of the new generations:

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* WotC will need psionic powers for some future setting without magic, for example a new edition of Gamma World.

Psionic powers may be more dangerous you could guess, because some psionic manifester infiltrated in a dinner of high society she could read minds or using teletransporting to send poison to certain cup of wine, and nobody would realise.

* I like the concept of psionic ardent like a frienemy of the divine casters, a hate-love relation because the ardents works more like a freelance or independient agent.

* The "cultivators" from manhwa and manhua are a potentially interesting concept to be explored

* We have to agree if anti-magic field or counterspelling can work against psionic powers.

* I like the idea of a new discipline about souls and spirits.

* My suggestion is publish something like a playtest template and allowing players to publish their own homemade version.

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