D&D 3E/3.5 Converting 2E Psionics to 3.5

[Belbarid]

More to the topic of the thread, I'm not sure if I would want to convert 2nd edition psionics to 3.5. I don't have much experience with 2nd edition, but I seem to remember psionics being rather obscenely unbalanced and poorly integrated.

At the risk of starting a horrible jihad that can only end in tears, psionics in 2E weren't overpowered- just poorly used. If the ONLY person in the campaign world with psionic ability was one of the PC's, then, yes, psionics seemed overpowered. But then, if no one else in the world could use magic except for the party wizard, you'd have the same.

Yes, some pretty insane powers could be had at low level. *IF* you had the PSP's to use it, and *IF* you had good enough stats to actually activate the power. And you still ran the risk of nasty side effects. I once ran a 1st level Psion in a 2E campaign who turned into a bear during the first fight. Unfortunately, I flubbed the roll, and became a bear *permanantly*.

In 2E, Psionics were different, which I liked. In 3.0, psionics became a mis-spelling of the word "spellcasting", which I hated. In 3.5, I honestly don't give a crap.