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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9608149" data-attributes="member: 6790260">To expand on my above idea, I'll make an example of the Psychokinesis Discipline, and specifically the Thermodynamism talent. Note this is purely off-the-cuff improvisation, so there's almost guaranteed to be large balance issues, excessive strength (or weakness), or silly holes because I neglected to consider something; please critique the form, not the numbers/presence of unintended interactions (unless such is so foundational as to be impossible to address.)[SPOILER="Example Mechanics"]<h3>Discipline: Psychokinesis</h3>Psychokinesis is the Discipline for reshaping or redirecting the world around you with your own mind. Talents within this Discipline often have combat applications, but their effects extend far beyond that. Master psychokinesis, and everything around you is a tool.<h4>Talent: Thermodynamism</h4>You have learned how to manipulate the heat in the environment around you. By careful manipulation of the flow of heat energy, you can freeze an enemy's heart or burn them from the inside out.Initiate EffectSelect one target you can sense* within 60 feet. Then, select whether the effect is helpful or harmful, and whether it is cold or heat. If harmful, make one psi attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 damage (cold or fire depending on your choice), plus your psi modifier. If helpful, the target becomes resistant to the associated damage type until the end of your next turn.Augment 1**If harmful, you can instead make one attack roll against that target, and a number of additional targets you can sense within 5 feet of the initial target, up to a maximum of your psi modifier (minimum 1). The primary target takes 2d8 plus your psi modifier damage (fire or cold), and the secondary targets take 1d8 damage of the opposite type. If helpful, the target has resistance to damage of the associated type for one hour, and for that duration, the target is protected from hot or cold weather (based on your initial choice) as though wearing appropriate protective gear.Augment 2If harmful, you may choose make a number of additional attacks equal to half your proficiency bonus (rounded up), and each target hit takes 3d8 plus your psi modifier cold or fire damage. If helpful, you may target a number of creatures up to your psi modifier. This effect cannot be used at the same time as the Augment 1 effect, even if you have a feature that allows you to combine augment effects.Augment 3You can now blend harmful and helpful effects together. Select a number of targets up to your psi modifier, and make a psi attack against each; then, select a number of friendly targets equal to the number of targets hit by those attacks. If you chose heat, each target hit takes 5d8 plus your psi modifier fire damage, and each friendly target gains +2 AC until the end of your next turn. If you chose cold, each target hit takes 5d8 plus your psi modifier cold damage, and each friendly target adds +1 to their attack rolls and to the DC of any saves they cause another creature to make, until the end of your next turn.Augment 4As Augment 3, except that the effects last for one minute, and during that time, you may make use of Augment 1 effects as a Bonus action on this turn and each turn that this effect remains active on at least one allied target, though you must still spend the power points to do so.Mastery EffectReduce the cost of augment powers for this discipline by 1 (minimum 1). If you instead choose to spend the normal number of points (or spend an additional point on the Augment 1 effect), you may roll each damage die twice and take the higher of the two dice for harmful effects. For helpful effects, you may double either their potency or their duration.*"Sense" means see, hear, or observe through any personal means, including detecting the thoughts of nearby creatures. This sense must be one you personally possess: you cannot be using the senses of another creature for this purpose.**You cannot augment a power with more power points than your limit, which is shown on your class table. (Loose idea: start with 1, increase by 1 at levels 5, 11, and 16; allow special displays of psionic prowess at 20, but only for one or two talents, not everything.)[/SPOILER]I hope this demonstrates how psionics could work quite a bit differently from spells, despite sometimes doing loosely similar things to what spells do. Each Discipline would have at least four Talents in it, and there would be something like four Disciplines. (My ideas thus far have been Psychokinesis, Mesmerism, Cryptaesthesia, and Phrenomorphosis.) The Psion might have a limited number of Disciplines they can select talents from, which grows as they gain levels. Conversely, a "Wilder" type psionic class might be able to learn Talents from any Discipline, but with a significantly smaller pool of power points to draw upon: great generalists, but poor sustain, as opposed to the Psion, who is a focused specialist with staying power.</blockquote>

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