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Beating 3.5 Psionics with the nerf bat
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<blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 3685047" data-attributes="member: 3051"><p>Unbalanced. Yes, a Psion can cast all of his powers fully augmented if you only have one or two encounters per day. But your suggestion just cripples them, since by expending Psionic Focus you're basically limiting them to one or two high-powered powers per encounter. Even a Wizard can do more than that.</p><p></p><p>Also, the phrasing is loaded with problems: "If a power is augmented to more than half the manifester's level". Should it be if it's augmented BY more than half? Because otherwise, if I'm CL10 and I decide to augment a fourth-level power (7pp) by one point, I'd be crippled. But if it's "BY", then this'd only rarely come up; even at CL20, I could still pump that 4th-level power by +10 (17pp total) without penalty.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Completely disagree with this one, especially in conjunction with your first suggestion. Let's take an example, <em>Energy Bolt</em> (3rd-level power). It deals 5d6 damage in a 120' line, +1d6 per pp, with the usual +1DC per 2 pp. Selecting Fire or Cold deals +1 damage per die, while Lightning is +2 DC. Compare to <em>Lightning Bolt</em>, a 3rd-level spell, which deals 1d6 per level (max 10d6). To match the damage at level 10, a psion using <em>Energy Bolt</em> would need to spend 3pp if he had selected Fire or Cold types, which'd also give him +1 DC. (5pp if he picked Lightning, but that'd also put him at +4 DC, so the break-even point is closer to 3pp). So, that 3rd-level power effectively costs more than a 4th-level power if you want to match the Wizard.</p><p></p><p>My point is, the Energy spells are very nice powers, but to match what the Wizard is doing, you HAVE to augment the powers. This is a big drawback, and to counteract it, the Psion gets two benefits: first, that he can continue to augment the power beyond what the arcane spells cap at, and second, the ability to pick the energy type. You'd already made clear you disliked heavily augmenting, and so if you house-rule that part away, the only advantage left is the ability to pick damage types.</p><p></p><p>Now, if you still want to limit the ability to swap damage types on the fly, there are other ways to do it, like what Psion suggested. Or instead, how about this?</p><p>> At the start of each turn Psion selects a damage type, which applies to all Energy powers manifested during that round. As a Free Action you can change the chosen Energy type at the start of a round; however, you only get the "extra" effects of a damage type (+1 damage per die, +2 DC, etc.) if you kept the same damage type as the previous round (note: the change to a Fort save for the Cold type is immediate). Effectively, there's a 1-round "dead period" when changing damage types, where the powers won't be as effective.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This one I can agree with. In fact, the whole 3.5E removal of Talents (cantrips) has a LOT of annoying consequences. And yes, it's created a whole slew of near-worthless level 1 powers that simply aren't much better than their cantrip-level equivalents.</p><p></p><p>The idea someone had previously suggested, which I liked better, was to just make these ex-cantrips BETTER. For instance, have <em>Detect Psionics</em> also duplicate the functionality of <em>Read Magic</em>. That sort of thing.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Weak. Very, very weak. The ability to dismiss, in most cases, just isn't worth the increased cost, and forcing this sort of rule change on all players doesn't make it any better.</p><p></p><p>So how about make it a more general metapsionic Feat, instead?</p><p></p><p><strong>Dismissable Power</strong> (Metapsionic)</p><p>You can dismiss an active power.</p><p>Benefit: </p><p>To use this Feat, you must expend your Psionic Focus.</p><p>Any power with a fixed duration may gain the (D) modifier, making it dismissable at will.</p><p>Using this Feat increases the cost of the power by 2 power points.</p><p></p><p>Or, better yet, make it a more general Feat:</p><p><strong>Duration Control</strong> (Psionic)</p><p>You may dismiss any active power you have manifested before its duration has expired. If the spell was not normally dismissable, this costs an additional 2 power points, and if the spell had more than half of its duration remaining, this cost increases to 4pp.</p><p></p><p>(I like the second more than the first, because it doesn't require Psionic Focus. The increased cost was to make up for that.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Spatzimaus, post: 3685047, member: 3051"] Unbalanced. Yes, a Psion can cast all of his powers fully augmented if you only have one or two encounters per day. But your suggestion just cripples them, since by expending Psionic Focus you're basically limiting them to one or two high-powered powers per encounter. Even a Wizard can do more than that. Also, the phrasing is loaded with problems: "If a power is augmented to more than half the manifester's level". Should it be if it's augmented BY more than half? Because otherwise, if I'm CL10 and I decide to augment a fourth-level power (7pp) by one point, I'd be crippled. But if it's "BY", then this'd only rarely come up; even at CL20, I could still pump that 4th-level power by +10 (17pp total) without penalty. Completely disagree with this one, especially in conjunction with your first suggestion. Let's take an example, [i]Energy Bolt[/i] (3rd-level power). It deals 5d6 damage in a 120' line, +1d6 per pp, with the usual +1DC per 2 pp. Selecting Fire or Cold deals +1 damage per die, while Lightning is +2 DC. Compare to [i]Lightning Bolt[/i], a 3rd-level spell, which deals 1d6 per level (max 10d6). To match the damage at level 10, a psion using [i]Energy Bolt[/i] would need to spend 3pp if he had selected Fire or Cold types, which'd also give him +1 DC. (5pp if he picked Lightning, but that'd also put him at +4 DC, so the break-even point is closer to 3pp). So, that 3rd-level power effectively costs more than a 4th-level power if you want to match the Wizard. My point is, the Energy spells are very nice powers, but to match what the Wizard is doing, you HAVE to augment the powers. This is a big drawback, and to counteract it, the Psion gets two benefits: first, that he can continue to augment the power beyond what the arcane spells cap at, and second, the ability to pick the energy type. You'd already made clear you disliked heavily augmenting, and so if you house-rule that part away, the only advantage left is the ability to pick damage types. Now, if you still want to limit the ability to swap damage types on the fly, there are other ways to do it, like what Psion suggested. Or instead, how about this? > At the start of each turn Psion selects a damage type, which applies to all Energy powers manifested during that round. As a Free Action you can change the chosen Energy type at the start of a round; however, you only get the "extra" effects of a damage type (+1 damage per die, +2 DC, etc.) if you kept the same damage type as the previous round (note: the change to a Fort save for the Cold type is immediate). Effectively, there's a 1-round "dead period" when changing damage types, where the powers won't be as effective. This one I can agree with. In fact, the whole 3.5E removal of Talents (cantrips) has a LOT of annoying consequences. And yes, it's created a whole slew of near-worthless level 1 powers that simply aren't much better than their cantrip-level equivalents. The idea someone had previously suggested, which I liked better, was to just make these ex-cantrips BETTER. For instance, have [i]Detect Psionics[/i] also duplicate the functionality of [i]Read Magic[/i]. That sort of thing. Weak. Very, very weak. The ability to dismiss, in most cases, just isn't worth the increased cost, and forcing this sort of rule change on all players doesn't make it any better. So how about make it a more general metapsionic Feat, instead? [b]Dismissable Power[/b] (Metapsionic) You can dismiss an active power. Benefit: To use this Feat, you must expend your Psionic Focus. Any power with a fixed duration may gain the (D) modifier, making it dismissable at will. Using this Feat increases the cost of the power by 2 power points. Or, better yet, make it a more general Feat: [b]Duration Control[/b] (Psionic) You may dismiss any active power you have manifested before its duration has expired. If the spell was not normally dismissable, this costs an additional 2 power points, and if the spell had more than half of its duration remaining, this cost increases to 4pp. (I like the second more than the first, because it doesn't require Psionic Focus. The increased cost was to make up for that.) [/QUOTE]
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