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.

 

[Aldarc]

Bard is lowkey psionic now.

The bard is an occult caster in PF2. Occult is the interestingly the same spell list used by psychics, some sorcerers, some witches, and the upcoming necromancer.

 

[Remathilis]

The bard is an occult caster in PF2. Occult is the interestingly the same spell list used by psychics, some sorcerers, some witches, and the upcoming necromancer.

While psionics in D&D has always danced in the weird fantasy and sci-fi domains, I think psionics fit well in occult pulp and horror genres too. I hope at some point we get a medium/mystic type horror-themed psion sub.

 

[Youshang]

Not so hot on the Psion class(which was always more of a Wizard but flavoured differently kind of thing) but I would love to see a modern interpretation of Dark Sun.

 

[Remathilis]

Just put a blind fold on. Or knock them out. Or keep them drugged. Or...

You aren't think through all of the possibilities. Especially since psions are probably very rare to the point of being almost unheard of, so why would they shoot anyone on sight?

Fine in the short run, but I guess you probably can't keep them more than 24 hours without C&UP (constantly drugged or unconscious) or relying on magic itself (anti magic cells and manacles).

Admittedly, it's a problem with all D&D magic, but removing the components check makes the problem go from nonsensical to farce.

 

[Parmandur]

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.

In AD&D there were a lot, in 4E they narrowed it down to 10.

And Dark Sun is the distinct place where "Wild Talents" are a whole Thing.

 

[Parmandur]

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.

More than players, even, it was DMs who reacted angrily to having to deal with whole new systems from PCs.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I just realized cryonetist, Pyronetist, and Atomnetists can be combined with transmute metallic to cast say phantasmal force, using any Elemental energy damage type.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

While psionics in D&D has always danced in the weird fantasy and sci-fi domains, I think psionics fit well in occult pulp and horror genres too. I hope at some point we get a medium/mystic type horror-themed psion sub.

The Pathfinder version took this approach.

 

[GarrettKP]

I just realized cryonetist, Pyronetist, and Atomnetists can be combined with transmute metallic to cast say phantasmal force, using any Elemental energy damage type.

Except you can’t take more than one of those feats. Wild Talents are one offs, you can’t take one if you have one.

 

[Aldarc]

While psionics in D&D has always danced in the weird fantasy and sci-fi domains, I think psionics fit well in occult pulp and horror genres too. I hope at some point we get a medium/mystic type horror-themed psion sub.

I don't mind some of the sci-fi elements of psionics. A lot of their names and powers that people find to be pseudo-science lean heavily into Greek or a sort of pseudo-Greek (e.g., psionics). It's actually something that would feel right at home in the Middle Ages, which was obsessed with Latin and Greek. A lot of alchemy, pseudo-science, and "magic" of those days involved Greek, Latin, or Arabic terms. It's almost something that should be at home with the scientific approach to magic of the Wizard. I would potentially even consider switching that around, with the psionic powers leaning into more mystical occult names.