D&D Debuts Playtest for Psion Class

Wizards of the Coast is playtesting the Psion class for Dungeons & Dragons. Today, Wizards of the Coast provided a new Unearthed Arcana for the Psion, a new class for the current revised 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. The playtest includes base class rules plus four subclasses - the body-shifting Metamorph, the reality warping Psi Warper, the offensive-minded Psykinetic, and the Telepath.

The core mechanic of the Psion involves use of Psion Energy die. Players have a pool of energy dice that replenishes after a Long Rest, with the number and size of the dice determined by the Psion's level. These psion energy dice can either be rolled to increase results of various checks/saving throws or spent to fuel various Psion abilities.

While the Psion and psionics have a long tradition in D&D, they've only received a handful of subclasses in 5th Edition. If the Psion survives playtesting, it would mark the first time that Wizards of the Coast has added a new character class to D&D since the Artificer. Notably, the Psion and psionics are also heavily associated with Dark Sun, a post-apocalyptic campaign setting that many considered to be off the table for Fifth Edition due to the need to update parts of the setting to bring it current with modern sensibilities. However, the introduction of Wild talent feats (which replaces some Origin feats tied to backgrounds with psion-themed Feats) in the UA seems to suggest that Dark Sun is back on the table.

 

[Steampunkette]

It is clear they are looking at psionics, that is one of the hints DS may be on the horizon. I don't see any issue with psionics and the weave working together in 5e, though I have a lot less psionic / magic biases than some.

They are. Yup. This is one of the hurdles they have to jump, and would've had to jump when it was the Mystic. I'm not saying it's insurmountable. Just that it's a problem.

As far as the Weave, that was more about how they've made ALL MAGIC (including Psionic 'Magic') dependent on the presence of the Weave of Mystra. Which doesn't really work for Dark Sun, where arcane magic defiles the world and siphons life out of it to power spellcraft, but psionics explicitly doesn't because that power is from within yourself.

It's a huge part of the narrative conceit of the setting.

I would also suggest that bringing back DS now allows them to appeal to a whole audience that doesn't have the baggage of the old DS. I think you can even have DS without psionics (my personal preference). Though I don't think that is what they are doing.

... I mean you could certainly make that setting and slap that name on it. But it wouldn't be Dark Sun.

I would like them to take more risks with setting material. Two counterpoints:

1. Theros introduced 1st level supernatural gifts / origin feats that were a simple power boost. These later became standarad, but at one time they were not. WotC may do something similar (give a power boost) to DS PCs, though I doubt it. Regardless Thero indicates WotC is not 100% against given settings some unique flavor / mechanics.
2. We know that the upcoming FR books will have setting specific takes on some monsters (drow at least). This could herald a more personalized look at settings moving forward. Perhaps DS will get a similar (maybe even more aggressive) treatment.

Several settings have already limited races (at least), I don't see why a more personalized approach to settings couldn't be a bit more aggressive on this front. I think the FR guide will tells more about what we might be likely to get from WotC.

I'd REALLY love that... I just see it as another obstacle they have to overcome.

It does and could be modified, removed, or kept and I still think DS works.

It can be modified, removed, or kept... but it is still a stumbling block. Something for people to debate in the writer's room. Some on one side thinking it's indefensible, others thinking it could be kept as is, and others trying to argue a middle ground of changing it.

None of these obstacles are insurmountable. They're just a variety of points that combine to make a bigger overall problem, is my argument.

That is true for any new setting. However, post-apocalypse settings (Last of Us, Walking Dead, Planet of the Apes, Mad Max, etc.) are pretty in favor right now.

In favor in pop culture... but are they in favor with the D&D community, -specifically-? Marvel characters are in favor in pop culture to the tune of billions of dollars of licensing rights for Spider-Man. That doesn't mean the average 5e players who has only really engaged with various high fantasy settings wants WotC to release a Marvel Superheroes setting where Wolverine is the Iconic Barbarian and they're eager to buy the book the day it drops.

Will it be popular with their current consumer base in the context of the game itself is still a big question, even if other social indicators hint at a relative popularity in the cultural zeitgeist.

I feel my previous few responses above address this

They kinda do... but also they really don't.

If whatever's popular outside of D&D were brought into D&D because it was popular we'd have a very different selection of campaign settings and books released. Instead, we see WotC cleaving close to high fantasy in everything.

Lemme demonstrate it differently. Here's the top 15 books according to AlphaStream's article from September 2023 found here: How D&D Sells and What It Means for the Hobby

This is based on the Bookscan data revealed here:

As you can see, Curse of Strahd and Eberron: Rising from the Last War are the two campaign settings on the top 15 list and sold, between the two of them, about 290,000 copies. Out of the 1.5 million people who owned a PHB by 2023.

Wildemount is down in the 110k range. Ravnica is at the 100k range with Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. I watched them scroll down to the 40k range and didn't see Theros.

Granted: This is only the numbers for big box stores and not direct sales or digital downloads, so there's definitely more sales of EVERYTHING on this list.

Settings don't sell that well. Just as a general rule. Because the target audience of a setting is a DM. And DMs make up a much smaller portion of the market.

Then you have the barrier that a lot of DMs make up their own settings. Some might buy other settings for examples or to steal stuff, but that still shrinks your potential market even further.

THEN you get into the popularity of Post Apocalyptic stuff compared to high fantasy. And as we can see, above, high fantasy (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Tasha's, Xanathar's) blows Gothic Horror Fantasy and Magepunk fantasy out of the water. So unless there's a secret trigger word on Post Apocalyptic Fantasy which activates most DMs in a Winter Soldier style purchasing frenzy, that market is going to be significantly smaller than the Forgotten Realms audience.

Are they going to release a Dark Sun setting book? Definitely possible. I think we'll probably see it with a bunch of character options tied to it, rather than a single standalone setting book to try and get a wider audience of players to grab a copy so they can access the Psion class or whatever else is in the book.

But it's a hurdle that they'll need to clear. Another complication in a list of complications. That's what I'm saying.

 

[Yaarel]

From tv tropes, psionic characters are often drugged to keep them incapacitated.

 

[GarrettKP]

From tv tropes, psionic characters are often drugged to keep them incapacitated.

Yes, but that is very unfun for players.

If your party is kidnapped, you want to be awake and able to try and overcome challenges. Including a Psion makes these effectively mute points, unless you treat them the same way you treat mages.

If you have to knock out a character just to counter them in these type of scenarios, then you are removing one players agency to overcome these challenges. That’s not good for gameplay.

 

[dave2008]

As far as the Weave, that was more about how they've made ALL MAGIC (including Psionic 'Magic') dependent on the presence of the Weave of Mystra. Which doesn't really work for Dark Sun, where arcane magic defiles the world and siphons life out of it to power spellcraft, but psionics explicitly doesn't because that power is from within yourself.

It's a huge part of the narrative conceit of the setting.

Perhaps I missed but how is magic dependent on the Weave of Mystra? I mean she doesn't even exist in my setting! Seriously though:

• I don't see any reference to the Weave in the PHB Chapter 7: Spells (I didn't check every spell though).
• I don't see any reference to the Weave in the Wizard class description. It simply refers you to Chapter 7 (see above)
• The Weave is not included in the DMG "Lore Glossary" or anywhere else I can see.
• There is no mention of the Weave in the MM spellcasting description. I did not check every monster's lore but there was no mention of the Weave in the lore of: Arch-hags, mages (apprentice - archmage), or the lich.

So how exactly is WotC making all magic dependent on the Weave? From what I can see it has no impact on how magic is used in 5e24.

But it's a hurdle that they'll need to clear. Another complication in a list of complications. That's what I'm saying.

I agree, but I don't feel the complications are vastly different* than any other new /old setting. If they want to do it, they can. If not, they will not to do it.

*Admittedly what is "vastly different" is subjective.

 

[dave2008]

There has got to be a better way.

I mean, realistically I feel this statement is true for about every class and monster in D&D, heck any RPG I've ever seen. I don't think that realization gets us much.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Perhaps I missed but how is magic dependent on the Weave of Mystra? I mean she doesn't even exist in my setting! Seriously though:

• I don't see any reference to the Weave in the PHB Chapter 7: Spells (I didn't check every spell though).
• I don't see any reference to the Weave in the Wizard class description. It simply refers you to Chapter 7 (see above)
• The Weave is not included in the DMG "Lore Glossary" or anywhere else I can see.
• There is no mention of the Weave in the MM spellcasting description. I did not check every monster's lore but there was no mention of the Weave in the lore of: Arch-hags, mages (apprentice - archmage), or the lich.

So how exactly is WotC making all magic dependent on the Weave? From what I can see it has no impact on how magic is used in 5e24.

I think they removed references to the Weave in the 2024 core books, I don't even recall them mentioning Human ethnic groups of the Forgotten Realms that were mentioned in the 2014 PHB.

 

[Steampunkette]

Perhaps I missed but how is magic dependent on the Weave of Mystra? I mean she doesn't even exist in my setting! Seriously though:

• I don't see any reference to the Weave in the PHB Chapter 7: Spells (I didn't check every spell though).
• I don't see any reference to the Weave in the Wizard class description. It simply refers you to Chapter 7 (see above)
• The Weave is not included in the DMG "Lore Glossary" or anywhere else I can see.
• There is no mention of the Weave in the MM spellcasting description. I did not check every monster's lore but there was no mention of the Weave in the lore of: Arch-hags, mages (apprentice - archmage), or the lich.

So how exactly is WotC making all magic dependent on the Weave? From what I can see it has no impact on how magic is used in 5e24.

"One D&D" is both 2014 and 2024 together. And in 2014 they included this:

The Weave of Magic
The worlds within the D&D multiverse are magical places.
All existence is suffused with magical power, and potential
energy lies untapped in every rock, stream, and living
creature, and even in the air itself. Raw magic is the stuff of
creation, the mute and mindless will of existence, permeating
every bit o f matter and present in every manifestation of
energy throughout the multiverse.
Mortals can’t directly shape this raw magic. Instead, they
make use o f a fabric o f magic, a kind o f interface between
the will of a spellcaster and the stuff o f raw magic. The
spellcasters of the Forgotten Realms call it the Weave and
recognize its essence as the goddess Mystra, but casters
have varied ways o f naming and visualizing this interface. By
any name, without the Weave, raw magic is locked away and
inaccessible;the most powerful archmage can't light a candle
with magic in an area where the Weave has been torn. But
surrounded by the Weave, a spellcaster can shape lightning
to blast foes, transport hundreds o f miles in the blink o f an
eye, or even reverse death itself.
All magic depends on the Weave, though different kinds
of magic access it in a variety of ways. The spells of wizards,
warlocks, sorcerers, and bards are commonly called arcane
magic. These spells rely on an understanding— learned or
intuitive— of the workings o f the Weave. The caster plucks
directly at the strands o f the Weave to create the desired
effect. Eldritch knights and arcane tricksters also use arcane
magic. The spells of clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers are
called divine magic. These spellcasters’ access to the Weave
is mediated by divine power— gods, the divine forces of
nature, or the sacred weight of a paladin’s oath.
Whenever a magic effect is created, the threads of the
Weave intertwine, twist, and fold to make the effect possible.
When characters use divination spells such as detect magic or
identify, they glimpse the Weave. A spell such as dispel magic
smooths the Weave. Spells such as antimagic field rearrange
the Weave so that magic flows around, rather than through,
the area affected by the spell. And in places where the Weave
is damaged or torn, magic works in unpredictable ways— or
not at all.

Now you can say "That's not in D&D 2024's book!" all you like. But it's there, in a whole block in 2014. Which was the guiding principle for everything that lead to 2024's edition, which they've repeatedly said is not a "New Edition".

When they say this part of the 2014 book is no longer relevant or canonical or whatever specific term they want to use, great. Until then it's still in effect as far as I can tell.

And, at the very least, it was a pre-2024 stumbling block to making Dark Sun or any setting which didn't have the Weave or some equivalent.

I agree, but I don't feel the complications are vastly different* than any other new /old setting. If they want to do it, they can. If not, they will not to do it.

Ehhh... I think a setting that goes WAY HARD away from traditional or "Standard" fantasy is going to be a bigger problem for them to get past the board of directors.

After all, Theros sold less than 40,000 hard copies. And we know it sold 14,000 copies in the first month because it was a Hardcover Fiction best seller in July of 2020 from links on the Wikipedia page for it.

That said, I hope a 5e Dark Sun sells a million copies. I love the setting. I just don't anticipate it would sell well compared to Ravenloft.

 

[Dire Bare]

"One D&D" is both 2014 and 2024 together. And in 2014 they included this:

The Weave of Magic
The worlds within the D&D multiverse are magical places.
All existence is suffused with magical power, and potential
energy lies untapped in every rock, stream, and living
creature, and even in the air itself. Raw magic is the stuff of
creation, the mute and mindless will of existence, permeating
every bit o f matter and present in every manifestation of
energy throughout the multiverse.
Mortals can’t directly shape this raw magic. Instead, they
make use o f a fabric o f magic, a kind o f interface between
the will of a spellcaster and the stuff o f raw magic. The
spellcasters of the Forgotten Realms call it the Weave and
recognize its essence as the goddess Mystra, but casters
have varied ways o f naming and visualizing this interface. By
any name, without the Weave, raw magic is locked away and
inaccessible;the most powerful archmage can't light a candle
with magic in an area where the Weave has been torn. But
surrounded by the Weave, a spellcaster can shape lightning
to blast foes, transport hundreds o f miles in the blink o f an
eye, or even reverse death itself.
All magic depends on the Weave, though different kinds
of magic access it in a variety of ways. The spells of wizards,
warlocks, sorcerers, and bards are commonly called arcane
magic. These spells rely on an understanding— learned or
intuitive— of the workings o f the Weave. The caster plucks
directly at the strands o f the Weave to create the desired
effect. Eldritch knights and arcane tricksters also use arcane
magic. The spells of clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers are
called divine magic. These spellcasters’ access to the Weave
is mediated by divine power— gods, the divine forces of
nature, or the sacred weight of a paladin’s oath.
Whenever a magic effect is created, the threads of the
Weave intertwine, twist, and fold to make the effect possible.
When characters use divination spells such as detect magic or
identify, they glimpse the Weave. A spell such as dispel magic
smooths the Weave. Spells such as antimagic field rearrange
the Weave so that magic flows around, rather than through,
the area affected by the spell. And in places where the Weave
is damaged or torn, magic works in unpredictable ways— or
not at all.

Now you can say "That's not in D&D 2024's book!" all you like. But it's there, in a whole block in 2014. Which was the guiding principle for everything that lead to 2024's edition, which they've repeatedly said is not a "New Edition".

When they say this part of the 2014 book is no longer relevant or canonical or whatever specific term they want to use, great. Until then it's still in effect as far as I can tell.

And, at the very least, it was a pre-2024 stumbling block to making Dark Sun or any setting which didn't have the Weave or some equivalent.

Ehhh... I think a setting that goes WAY HARD away from traditional or "Standard" fantasy is going to be a bigger problem for them to get past the board of directors.

After all, Theros sold less than 40,000 hard copies. And we know it sold 14,000 copies in the first month because it was a Hardcover Fiction best seller in July of 2020 from links on the Wikipedia page for it.

That said, I hope a 5e Dark Sun sells a million copies. I love the setting. I just don't anticipate it would sell well compared to Ravenloft.

Adding the "weave" to Dark Sun is trivial, IMO, and wouldn't change the setting overmuch. All you have to do is explain how defiling and preserving affect the weave.

Not including the weave in a new 5E Dark Sun is also trivial, even without the fact they've already removed it from the 2024 core books.

I would be surprised if WotC described the arcane magic of a reimagined Dark Sun as the "weave" . . . but if they did, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

 

[Dausuul]

I don't understand the need for endless novelty. I played 3.5 when you could have a wizard, a psion, a binder, a shadow mage, an incarnate, and a warmain all playing their own special version of D&D with their unique mechanics and interactions. You know what? It wasn't good. No class beyond psionics ever got an expansion book, so all you ever had was the main book. Nobody knew what your powers did, and nobody could follow the interactions to determine if you were interpreting them right. And that's ignoring when they were straight to better or worse than the other classes.

That's an undesirable extreme and I wouldn't want to return to that either. But that's one thing we don't need to be worried about at the moment -- we've had one, count it, one new class since 5E was released eleven years ago.

And there is an opposite extreme, where everything gets shoehorned into the same set of mechanics, and if you don't like those mechanics or want to try something different there's nowhere else to go. That was one of my biggest beefs with 4E, and why I found Essentials to be such a breath of fresh air.

5E is not as rigid as 4E was, for which I am glad... but the current crop of designers seem to really want to go back there. They kept trying to jam the warlock into the full-caster mold during the 2024E playtest. Feedback from warlock fans pushed them off that, but they clearly have no appetite for breaking any new ground.

Like I said, I'm not the target audience, I wasn't yearning to play a psion, so this isn't my fight. If psionics enthusiasts find that this implementation scratches their itch, then by all means this should be the implementation they get. But I wish we could have a little more innovation in this space -- particularly since the full caster design locks up so much of a class's power budget, leaving very little for at-will or short-rest abilities.

 

[Steampunkette]

Adding the "weave" to Dark Sun is trivial, IMO, and wouldn't change the setting overmuch. All you have to do is explain how defiling and preserving affect the weave.

Except Psionics is also Magic. They use the word magic over and over and over and over again.

The Weave is also required to cast Cleric and Druid Spells, Paladin Spells, Warlock Spells.

So "Defiling" can't have any kind of effect on the Weave for Arcane Spellcasters (Wizards, Warlocks, Bards, Sorcerers) that it doesn't also have on every -other- kind of spellcaster.

Not including the weave in a new 5E Dark Sun is also trivial, even without the fact they've already removed it from the 2024 core books.

Definitely a better option. They could use Dark Sun to specifically excise the idea that every world in the Multiverse uses the Weave and have it be the example that breaks the rule, breaking the 2014 principle.

I'd be delighted with that, myself.

I would be surprised if WotC described the arcane magic of a reimagined Dark Sun as the "weave" . . . but if they did, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

I'd be surprised if they added the Weave to Dark Sun and then specified that it only matters for Arcane Casters to half-way remove the previous stipulation that all magic of all kinds is reliant on the Weave... And then come up with a complex explanation of how Arcane Magic has decimated or abused the Weave, and somehow the Weave on -this- planet decided to start killing all the vegetation and stuff to provide power since day 1 of defiling...

But I think it'd be easier to explicitly throw out the Weave -if- they do Dark Sun.