D&D Debuts Playtest for Psion Class

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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.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer

I wouldn't call it spending - it's pretty minimal work to create a Background in 2024 rules. However, coming up with that many variations based around the same theme would be difficult, unless you go into something very setting and faction specific. Having "fire mystics", "ice mystics" and "lightning mystics" might fit into a Last Airbender setting, but it's not exactly generally applicable. I would be inclined to view "Wild Talent" as one feat with 10 variants, rather than 10 different feats. The mutual exclusivity supports that. So any Background with Wild Talent will give you a choice of which one.
Dragonmarks are also exclusive, but those are 13 Feats that are each getting a Background in Forge of the Artificer. Similarly, the section on Wild Talent Feats states that the 10 distinct Geats would be tied to Backgrounds in any book that contained them.
 

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Dragonmarks are also exclusive, but those are 13 Feats that are each getting a Background in Forge of the Artificer. Similarly, the section on Wild Talent Feats states that the 10 distinct Geats would be tied to Backgrounds in any book that contained them.
As I said, you can only do that because the different factions already exist and in the setting. If you want to come up with ten different backgrounds each of which is tied to a specific talent it’s going to take a huge amount of setting-specific world building.

It also contradicts the idea of the talent being wild, which in this context means random.

Rules are only true until they are not.
 

As I said, you can only do that because the different factions already exist and in the setting. If you want to come up with ten different backgrounds each of which is tied to a specific talent it’s going to take a huge amount of setting-specific world building.

It also contradicts the idea of the talent being wild, which in this context means random.

Rules are only true until they are not.
Yes, but they are presented as ten distinct Feats, with the note that they plan to use them for Backgrounds. So, given thwt, crowding the undoubtedly overstuffed FR books with that seems unlikely. Dark Sun or something new would seem most likely, but FR has too much other ground to cover, and this isn't enough time to iterate a new Class.
 

Yes, but they are presented as ten distinct Feats, with the note that they plan to use them for Backgrounds. So, given thwt, crowding the undoubtedly overstuffed FR books with that seems unlikely. Dark Sun or something new would seem most likely, but FR has too much other ground to cover, and this isn't enough time to iterate a new Class.
Thing with Dark Sun is ALL PCs have a wild talent. So if you tie it to background you are limiting the players to only 10 possible backgrounds. No outlander for you.

Rules are more guidelines than your actual rules..
 

As I said, you can only do that because the different factions already exist and in the setting. If you want to come up with ten different backgrounds each of which is tied to a specific talent it’s going to take a huge amount of setting-specific world building.

It also contradicts the idea of the talent being wild, which in this context means random.

Rules are only true until they are not.
They could also just make 10 backgrounds that aren’t “backgrounds” in the traditional sense.

Instead of Solider and Hermit and Merchant they could have “Backgrounds” like “Pyrokinetic” or “Empathetic” etc etc. Backgrounds in some settings don’t have to be jobs. As you said, rules are only true until they are not.
 


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