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.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I'd actually prefer it if there is no Shaper. The 3e Metacreativity discipline always felt a bit shoehorned in. In 3.0, each discipline had its own casting (sorry, manifesting) stat: Strength for psychometabolism, Dexterity for psychoportation, Constitution for metacreativity, Intelligence for psychokinesis, Wisdom for clairsentience, and Charisma for telepathy (I'm not certain about Con/Int, but the principle is right). In 2e, however, metacreativity was not a thing – there was a metapsionics discipline, but that was for things like extending durations/ranges and such. So to me, metacreativity always felt like "OK, we decided to match disciplines to stats, and we need one for Constitution... any ideas?", and creating things from nothing never felt particularly psionic to me. Force fields yes, crystals no.

It was Psychometabolism=Con and Metacreativity=Int, but I think there's potential in having the Shaper as a "Pet" subclass of Psion (though I'm aware the power budget of pets and full casters tend to be limited). Maybe it can take a bit of the Thrallherd prestige class too, except with having a companion that's more willing because it's something like a psionic projection rather than a permanently mind controlled being.

 

[Yaarel]

Any thoughts how they could implement the Seer or Shaper subclasses?

The Seer suffers from being traditionally rather close to the Diviner Wizard, but many of the interesting 3.5e Clairsentience powers were often shared with the Psychic Warrior. I guess they could try pushing the Seer more towards the Fighter or the Monk. Or try making the subclass from the other end as a subclass of Fighter (though less likely given the Psi Warrior subclass) or Monk instead of a Psion subclass.

The Shaper I'm guessing is one they can really lean on the crystals and ectoplasm flavour, have the Shaper be all about throwing around exploding force damage crystals and summoning Astral Entities, with spells like Web or Entangle, some of the Conjure spells (including Conjure Minor Elementals) and Fabricate added to their list. Maybe go all in with the Astral Entity with a constant set of companions that they can manifest physically (really just Find Familiar, Find Steed or Phantom Steed and special uses of Summon Astral Entity and Aberration).

Merge Seer into Psi Warper as part of 'spacetime' magic that includes Teleportation and Divination.

For Shaper, this is Illusion, while more specifically objectively existing 'force constructs', and leaning into alter reality and the direct creation of reality by the power of the mind via Wish, with hints of the quantum-observer effect. The subclass includes spells like Unseen Servant, Wall of Force, Leomunds Tiny Hut, and other force constructs as well, allong with the various Illusion spells that allow the player to decide the appearance.

I want to see an Artificer psionic subclass handle the psionic crystal themes, that artificially engineer the mind-soul magic.

Maybe the Druid or Sorcerer can have a psionic subclass handles the Pyrokineticist or all of the Four Elemental themes.

The 'slime' (Astral Ectoplasm) might be a Warlock occultish subclass, with hints of Victorian Era, Steam Punk, and esoteric secret societies. It might also be the channeler, a medium, and whose Patron is ghosts who somehow dont move on into their Astral destinations.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

The Knowledge Domain Cleric presented in that Realms UA is sort of the Psionic Cleric subclass.

I definitely think the Ardent class of 3.5e and 4e, should be the College of Ardor subclass of the Bard.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Now I am thinking if the wilder will be only a subclass. I have got an idea for this. When the wilder uses "wild surge" and she fails a checks she is dazed a turn and she "earns scourge points". She can't uses these, but the scourge points are spent by the DM to create psionic effects against the players, usually to create a hostile astral construct.

I hope a psionic artificer subclass or variant. A psiforged shouldn't be difficult to be updated because this is a warforged with a special feat.

I suggest "divine mind" to be renamed "enlightened".

We should see a future UA about the PC species. I hope to can suggest the return of synads, the fraals and shardminds.

* A possible idea for a DS spiritual sucessor would be something like Duskmourn. A powerful being devours remains of psionic powers, not only fear or suffering, then it is not too agresive. The survivors suffer a lot of troubles but they can explore outdoors and build city-states and create a new civilitation.

* Shouldn't the Athasian drakes to show different age categories?

The Orrery of Nibelay ("Marauders of Nibenay") shows the "Athaspace" is a wildspace with several worlds besides Athas. And maybe it suffered something like the Sundering in Forgotten Realms. Or the "original" Athas isn't in the Athaspace because the Brown Tide, the aparition of defilers and the cleasing war and now it is within its own demiplane. My idea is somebody from other wildspace who couldn't be affected by the possible time paradoxes used time travel to avoid the Brown Tide, but this "created a door" and agents of Tharizdun followed the same path they created intentionally a second Brown Tide, this time with elemental-touched biopunk machines, like the "sheens" (biomecanical horrors).

And some zones could be "reconquered" by gem dragons and also infernal dragon overlords.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

4E Dark Sun had 10 Wild Talents, and the Ad&D ser included a couple with similar names to this batch

It did, they were part of the original 1st edition psionics rules. But there were a lot more of them, something like 20 I think. Which you really need if everyone has one, or you will have a bunch of PCs with the same powers.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Sufficiently fictional abilities are indistinguishable from magic.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Sufficiently fictional abilities are indistinguishable from magic.

The problem is that "magic" now means "spellcasting" 90% or more of the time.

And "spellcasting" is much more confining, as a system, than many people--WotC included--seems to realize.

 

[pukunui]

The problem is that "magic" now means "spellcasting" 90% or more of the time.

And "spellcasting" is much more confining, as a system, than many people--WotC included--seems to realize.

Mmm. I find the “Everything’s a spell” approach in 5e to be irksome occasionally. It would’ve been nice if they’d kept 3e’s “spell-like abilities” … so like a tiefling could use their thaumauturgy cantrip without having to “cast” it per se.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The problem is that "magic" now means "spellcasting" 90% or more of the time.

And "spellcasting" is much more confining, as a system, than many people--WotC included--seems to realize.

I think WotC would agree with it being confining (their original attempt was with a point based system after all). But we know that their market research has shown that 5e players are very very resistant to learning new systems. Which makes sense to me - the reason 5e managed mass market penetration when other editions did not is that the rules are simple and intuitive. I can certainly say that most of my players are only here because they want to pretend to be fantasy heroes, they really aren't very interested in the rules, and would be very opposed to having to learn new ones. We saw that with the Psi Knight and it's psi dice. The final version was very simplified from the version in the original UA, because the feedback showed that the majority of players did not want to learn a new system with that level of complexity.

My personal view is D&D doesn't need new classes - it has too many already, that are only in because tradition. But I would axe the sorcerer and bard*, and keep the psion. The sorcerer was only added to the game because some players found spell memorisation too difficult. Which was then cut from the other casters, rendering sorcerers pointless.

I think its true to say that popular games are always simple**. The more complex you make a game's rules, the more niche it becomes.


*replacing bard with a version with little or no magic.

**Chess has very simple easily learned rules. The complexity is emergent in the gameplay.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Later this year will be the first time a GM will allow me to play a Warforged in 5e, mostly because he's been exposed to the species from outside Eberron. Even after 3e provided alternative options for warforged in Forgotten Realms, it was a hard sell. I discovered many GMs have a defined comfort zone and I didn't even bother to pitch playing a psionic class.

By allowing two familiar mechanics, the subclass dice ability mechanic and spell slots, more GMs might allow a psionist in their game since it's just another spellcasting class. Though there will GMs who are going to pass on anything feeling slightly New Age or sci-fi to them.

I used to be in the "psionics are different" crowd, at least until I realized that about 42 powers in the Expanded Psionics Handbook are just psionic versions of spells.

The idea of simplifying and having one system for manifesting supernatural powers/spells has become appealing to me in 5e. Plus, with some reskinning, there's a lot one can do to get some psionic flavor from things like the aberrant mind sorcerer.

I feel like this psion fills a niche that was missing - the non-aberrant psionic character. And it feels good, at least at a glance.