Complete Psioinc...now we've had time...

[DragonLancer]

Its not a bad book overall, though I was expecting better somehow.

The new base classes I don't like, but then I don't like base classes outside of the core rules (and Psion/Psychic Warrior from XPH) though thats a discussion for another thread.

The feats were reasonably ok, nothing too over or under powered.

The PrC's were not all that interesting to me and none of them fit my campaign (so few do anyway).

The new psionic powers were what I really bought the book for, and I was not dissapointed. I haven't found any broken ones as yet, though a couple as I recall were a little naff but I expect that these days.

Overall, its a nice addition to my campaign and if you use pisonics its worth picking up.

 

[Psion]

The ardent doesn't do much for me. I'm not too keen of Cordell's "divine psionics" mix-ems. He seems awful fond of 'em, though.

I think in the hands of the right player (and perhaps the right DM to flesh out their worldview a bit), it could be a real good role-playing opportunity.

The divine mind isn't too homebrew friendly; I have to come up with a whole new set of domain lists for my deities. (Coming up with them the first time was enough of a task.)

The lurk... eh. If your gonna multiclass, I prefer that you multiclass. I guess I might allow one.

It excited me to see the Talaire again, but I almost don't recognize what they have done with them. I mean they went from a well structured race with a concrete goal, to a race whose world was lost to a nameless enemy. I'm not sure I like it. What was Cordell after? Changing the foe that destroyed Talaron from mind flayers to the Dark Plea? Well, that could be cool, but it's left to someone who owns HC and/or WtSF to make that leap. WotC owns the IP for illithids, probably should have stuck with it.

PrCs left me underwhelmed. Too few, and none even as interesting as the ones in Hyperconscious.

Some powers and feats are cool, though some are redundant, and entirely too many devoted to the soulknife, which I am not too fond of.

That said, the cover illo single handedly improved my image of the soulknife, who until know I had a hard time coming up with a mental image of that wasn't "wannabe jedi".

I'll get some use out of it, but of the 5 complete books, it probably ranks 4th for me.

 

[WarlockLord]

My opinion

The ardent, lurk, erudite, and divine mind are good. A few of the powers are good. A few. There is way too much "pseudo magic" in my opinion, such as the planar champion power (for PSIONS? I can see divine mind and ardent, but psions and psychic warriors, that's not right). The stygian powers are awful. A few feats are good. The astral construct changes are bad. There's not enough content, and a lot of it's bad.


Somehow, I expected more quality, this being probably the only support psions will ever have. This is a true disapppontment. Too much flavor, and trying to create psionics as "magic - with power points!" is just sad.

 

[Felon]

The ardent doesn't do much for me. I'm not too keen of Cordell's "divine psionics" mix-ems.

"Divine psionics" is just a concept that falls uttterly and completely flat for me. What is the point of this contrivance? Is there one?

I can't say I thought it was a particularly inspired move to create psionic analogues of the core four classes. It seems a much more worthwhile endeavor to try to secure a fresh niche for psionics rather than co-opting the niches of the cleric, fighter, wizard, and rogue. The reason many DM's (like myself) won't adopt psionics is because it doesn't feel like it adds anything new to the game. CP did anything but change my mind about that.

 

[Graf]

Not a complete book... but a decent one.

The primary issue is just a marketing one: It's a general psionics expansion, not a complete book, in that, unlike the other complete books, it doesn't offer very much to exisiting characters.
It's more of a book for DMs wanting to populate a psionic world than for players looking to tune-up (twink?) their characters.

That aside, while I haven't playtested but my responce is: some good some bad.

Divinity & Psionics
Generally I wasn't been a fan of BC's attempts, prior to this book, to add in gods/divinity (i.e. The whole godmind/PrC in Hyperconcious ) to the psionics ruleset didn't do it for me.
But I think the bugs were worked out.
Now psions are devoted to gods and ideals (the same way other characters are) while retaining the "independent" flavor of the rulesset.

Ardent weak?!?

The Ardent is weak sauce. Seriously weak sauce.

So I threw him the Divine Mind's auras and everything is slightly better.

Require more information...

You get the same number of power points as a psion, armor proficiency (required multiclassing or feats before), granted powers (i.e. better than feat feats) -and- access to lots of discipline powers, including some that aren't availible to psions (healing). You don't get... a psi-crystal...
I think its almost impossible for an ardent to be "weaker" than a psion (with the understanding that you could pick bad powers/feats for the ardent and good ones for the psion).
Heck I'd like to see a psion (i.e. a combination of powers & feats) that an Ardent couldn't also do. (except -maybe- straight blaster)

Did someone run a straight ardent in your game and it didn't work out? (when a psion would have?)

 

[Razz]

As an avid super-fan of psionics I must say:

It still sucks.

Yeah, I do have use for the new classes, I like Divine Mind and Lurk especially, Ardent's ok. A few of the powers are neat, the mantle thing is alright, and a few feats are ok. The monsters are always cool. The small number of prestige classes irks me to no end, but I am happy with there being any in the first place.

Other than that, the rest is crap and will remain that way. I am only going to be able to enjoy half the book, maybe a little less. It's still terribly done and gave almost no one what they wanted more of in psionic games.

My question is what does Bruce Cordell have to say about all the negative comments? Him and the other writers are so quick to answer questions about the books they write, but they never comment on the negative reactions received and why things were done the way they were done. People tend to lose faith in others when they screw up something and don't give some sort of explanation and/or apology for it.

I'm not talking about a few negative reactions. I mean widespread ones like this Complete Psionics fiasco. I mean, did he really think most of the psionic community would be happy with this book? Did the writers even give it a good read over a few times? I mean, come on, I read over what I just wrote and immediately begin thinking "This won't fly. That's crap. I need to fix that."

They're doing another round of the "Complete" series again, with Complete Mage and Complete Scoundrel. When it comes time for Complete Psionics II, let's hope they get things right this time.

 

[Aaron L]

The ardent doesn't do much for me. I'm not too keen of Cordell's "divine psionics" mix-ems. He seems awful fond of 'em, though.

I dont see the Ardent as divine, but as a philosophical seeker of Truth, very Socrates. I love it dearly.

As I said, fits my world like a glove. Pisonics was first developed by philosophers meditating on higher meaning, and uncovering the hidden potential of the sapient mind. I couldnt have been happier. You and I usually have almost the exact same view of psionics, Psion, so Id like to get the Ardent to jive for you. It isnt divinely inspired, it is based on Platonic ideals.

It isnt gods that provide the basis for it, its universal archetypes and paradigms. And they dont give power to the psionics, that always comes from whithin. The ideals provide a model for the Ardent to strive for, a philosophical foundation and inspiration for the mind and soul to build upon.

It isnt a god providing psionic power to a worshipper, its a philosopher finding the inspiration to let his inner power emerge, a seeker of knowledge grasping hold of universal ideals and using them as an anchor to let his mind and soul's power flow out.

But the Divine Mind flavor text, as written, makes me ill. I apply the same reasoning as the Ardent to them.

 

[DragonLancer]

Other than that, the rest is crap and will remain that way. I am only going to be able to enjoy half the book, maybe a little less. It's still terribly done and gave almost no one what they wanted more of in psionic games.

Interesting. Could you elaborate, please?

 

[mhacdebhandia]

But the Divine Mind flavor text, as written, makes me ill.

Talk about your lunatic hysteria.

What symptoms are you presenting, eh? Fever? Shortness of breath? Nausea? Itchy scalp?

 

[Jedi_Solo]

Most of the book didn't excite me very much when I first saw it. I have used used very little of the book in-game but I have used and love the Soulbow. My current cohort is a Soulbow and has been working out very well.

The rest of the book I can't really comment on. Some of it looks good - some doesn't. Haven't used any other portions in-game yet so can't really say.