D&D General Psionic species and subspecies, will they make a comeback too?

Mind of tempest · Monday at 2:37 PM

Steampunkette said:
Well! We could look to Lovecraftian mythos for a new abberation-heritage design? I think it's safe to say Cthulhu and the Illithid he spawned are clearly off-limits to avoid any kind of imminent lawsuit from WotC.

The other big ones from the "Great Old Ones" range are Hastur and Yig.

Yig is the basis of Dendar the Night Serpent and the Yuan-Ti really cover a ton of the identity, there. Twisted snake-people and all.

Which leaves us with Hastur, the Yellow Sign, the King in Yellow....

Who is, of course, associated with the Worm that Walks.

It's almost like WotC mined Lovecraftian myth almost directly to try and make their Aberration stuff!

So what if we took a step just to the left and touched, instead, on the Oghru Jahad, of Hellboy, and their minions, the Ogdru Hem, instead?

Sammael, the Hound of Resurrection, would be a very interesting basis for a player heritage. Four eyes, tentacle-hair, concentric ring symbols on the body hearkening to -something- else. Three tongues on the end of a stalk that can extend outward... Not to mention the bony plates and brain-wrinkle patterns on specific parts of the body.

There's a -lot- of stimulating visuals you could mine from that interpretation.

Alternatively there's Cipactlhem for something very simple: Extra Mouths.

View attachment 407469

We definitely don't have any player character options with secondary mouths, and the gibbering mouther is a core aberration... Just thoughts!

Those are all very brutish; whatever the end result is would be much more gaunt by nature, it is all brain rather than brawn.

Regardless, the Doom Cosmic Baron fits the above fairly well

I have seen Eldritch ghosts in media, for example, this guy

Given it would be to psionics what elves are to wizards, it would logically have to look smart
Perhaps some bits of a classic grey in there?

Freaky also does not mean they have to be borderline bad guys, the guy below has similar morals to Superman, Captain America and Optimus Prime, just looks way more horrible to find in a dark alley

Mind of tempest · Monday at 2:41 PM

Tonguez said:
Actually, this has reminded me that Otyugh are already a telepathic species and at least semi-intelligent (Int 6). So why do all PC options have to be humanoid? Why cant we have a three legged bulk with a pair of tentacles and an eyestalk?

The Trash Heap has spoken naaagh!

has to be able to wear armour, and something with only one orifice would likely disgust people too much.

Corinnguard · Monday at 2:42 PM

Mind of tempest said:
Those are all very brutish; whatever the end result is would be much more gaunt by nature, it is all brain rather than brawn.

Regardless, the Doom Cosmic Baron fits the above fairly well
View attachment 407471

I have seen Eldritch ghosts in media, for example, this guy
View attachment 407472
Given it would be to psionics what elves are to wizards, it would logically have to look smart
Perhaps some bits of a classic grey in there?
View attachment 407473
Freaky also does not mean they have to be borderline bad guys, the guy below has similar morals to Superman, Captain America and Optimus Prime, just looks way more horrible to find in a dark alley
View attachment 407474

A 5e species of either Ghost Freak from Ben10 and the Fraal (aka the Gray) from Alternity would work IMO. I prefer Kabuterimon over his ultimate form.

Mind of tempest · Monday at 3:28 PM

Corinnguard said:
A 5e species of either Ghost Freak from Ben10 and the Fraal (aka the Gray) from Alternity would work IMO. I prefer Kabuterimon over his ultimate form.

My point is more the pot of things to draw from is massive and deeply strange. Mix Sufficient things together, and one very good idea is likely to emerge from the creative primordial muck.

Yaarel · Monday at 3:50 PM

Mind of tempest said:
My point is more the pot of things to draw from is massive and deeply strange. Mix Sufficient things together, and one very good idea is likely to emerge from the creative primordial muck.

I suspect a way forward within D&D is for the psi creature to be a shapeshifter, that can take on forms that nonanthropomorphic and anthropomorphic. This fluidity allows players and designers to lean into the strange forms, while also appeasing players who want their 'elf' sotospeak.

With this premise in mind, maybe design the Shardmind to actually be psi crystals themselves. These crystallize and dissolve to animate telekinetically, like sand that can merge together into a hard gem then dissipate to take on almost any form.

If crystalline, the shapeshifter might not be 'fleshy' enough. If this is important, do similar with an Ooze origin, that form organic musclelike shapes at will or per rest, that can touch, feel, and be vulnerable in a sense.

Tonguez · Monday at 4:47 PM

Steampunkette said:
Inspired by Otyugh? Possibly!

Actual Otyugh? Not a snowball's chance. WotC is terrified of large sized PCs on a conceptual level.

. The otyugh entry in A Practical Guide to Monsters notes that they are 8 feet tall - which puts their height within the limits of Medium sized, its their 500lb bulk that pushes them to large, but maybe a smaller juvenile form would work

Mind of tempest said:
has to be able to wear armour, and something with only one orifice would likely disgust people too much.

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Otyugh in Armour

Kobold Avenger · Monday at 5:10 PM

Mind of tempest said:
Given it would be to psionics what elves are to wizards, it would logically have to look smart
Perhaps some bits of a classic grey in there?
View attachment 407473

There's precedence for Greys as a PC species, they did have D&D PC stats for the Fraal in 2e in something like a Dragon Magazine article to coincide with the release of Alternity. So the Fraal could be written as a PC species in 5e.

Other species from Alternity could be brought over too.

Misanthrope Prime · Monday at 5:44 PM

Mind of tempest said:
Those are all very brutish; whatever the end result is would be much more gaunt by nature, it is all brain rather than brawn.

Regardless, the Doom Cosmic Baron fits the above fairly well
View attachment 407471

I have seen Eldritch ghosts in media, for example, this guy
View attachment 407472
Given it would be to psionics what elves are to wizards, it would logically have to look smart
Perhaps some bits of a classic grey in there?
View attachment 407473
Freaky also does not mean they have to be borderline bad guys, the guy below has similar morals to Superman, Captain America and Optimus Prime, just looks way more horrible to find in a dark alley
View attachment 407474

I feel like doppelgangers already stole the Gary alien look, and for some reasons through changelings they decided to make them fey instead of aberrations

Mind of tempest · Tuesday at 7:36 AM

Kobold Avenger said:
There's precedence for Greys as a PC species, they did have D&D PC stats for the Fraal in 2e in something like a Dragon Magazine article to coincide with the release of Alternity. So the Fraal could be written as a PC species in 5e.

Other species from Alternity could be brought over too.

Misanthrope Prime said:
I feel like doppelgangers already stole the Gary alien look, and for some reasons through changelings they decided to make them fey instead of aberrations

hence me suggesting it be more put into an inspiration pile rather than be a single sanding idea.

D&D General Psionic species and subspecies, will they make a comeback too?

Mind of tempest

(he/him)advocate for 5e psionics

Mind of tempest

(he/him)advocate for 5e psionics

Corinnguard

Hero

Mind of tempest

(he/him)advocate for 5e psionics

Yaarel

🇮🇱 🇺🇦 He-Mage

Tonguez

A suffusion of yellow

Kobold Avenger

Legend

Misanthrope Prime

Hero

Mind of tempest

(he/him)advocate for 5e psionics

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