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.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Except that saying "really" implies that everyone knows what "doing psionics really" means. And every thread on this subject, going back to 3E, shows that's not true.

It's more useful to say "I want psionic points" or whatever, rather than to suggest that there's one true way that everyone knows and that WotC is just being coy about for some reason.

I mean, I think it's more that people know what it isn't.

And it isn't spell slots and D&D-style "computer program" spells.

I agree re: "more useful", but sometimes you have to acknowledge people knowing what something isn't and agreeing on that even more than they know what something is.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I am one of those who miss the power points pool. I suggest to add a paragraph presenting it as an option.

Lots of players didn't remember the displays from 3.5 Ed but these could be necessary to avoid possible abuses during stealth or infiltration operations. For example if somebody in a high society dinner could be suffering a headache this could be a mental display warning somebody is using telepathic powers. A display could be the key to discover an enemy who was using psionic powers to hide.

I miss the astral constructs, and the ardent class like frienemies of divine spellcasters with a love-hate relation, like dog and cat. And the elemental stewards should return. These deserve a second oportunity.

Could astral constructs to be used like "energy armours"? Dreamscarred Press created the "Aegis" class.

What about a new "discipline" about spirits and sols? the athanatism discipline from 2018 psionic guide for Starfinder by Dreamscarred Press (their last project).

Today the xianxia fiction and "cultivators" could be a great influence for 2024 psions.

* Are you thinking into the creation of PCs style X-Men or Momo Ayase(Dandadan manganime).

* About Dark Sun

I would bet more for a spiritual succesor than the return of the region of Tyr from Athas. WotC would rather creative freedom to add new crunch (classes and PC species) from later editions. The region of Tyr could return but only like a smaller zone within a bigger setting. Maybe the new Dark Sun is in a new wildspace next to the Athaspace.

WotC has to choose what to do with the new faction the "city of spires" from the Black Spine adventure.

Other possibility is the region of Tyr appearing like "guest artist" in some multi-global adventure like "Vecna: Eve of Ruin".

* We should see later a second UA about the psionic PC races: fraals? shardminds(4e), synads(complete psionic), maenads, elans, xephs and dromites. I miss the blue goblin subrace. They were the outcast among the misfits, like master Yoda had suffered a hard life.

 

[Micah Sweet]

My answer was always, “re- skin the Sorcerer.”

Specifically not what I wanted back when I was holding out for WotC to make this.

 

[jgsugden]

I would rather see something distinctly different than a spell-slot spellcaster. A class should fill a separate niche than other classes, and I feel like this one could be significantly more distinct from the wizard and sorcerer.

In my homebrew (spelled out here: D&D 5E - 5e Psion+++++thread, D&D General - What’s The Big Deal About Psionics?) there are power points, psionic defenses and offenses, psionics is separate from magic, and they evoke the feel of super heroes like Jean Grey, but also like Johnny Storm, Nightcrawler, and Hal Jordan. They generally have a limited suite of things they can do, but the things they can do are versatile. For example, like Johnny Storm you might do fire powers, but you can make a lot of things with them, use them to make you fly, just do energy blasts with them, create walls of fire, etc... They also allow you to push 'beyond your limits' to get a nova style effect, but doing so can be dangerous. For example, you could throw caution to the wind and use a very high number of Power Points to up the intensity of a psychic attack to a very high level, but you risk hurting yourself, hurting others nearby, or limiting your ability to regain Power points for a time.

Essentially, when I think of classes, I like to think of the archetypical example of the class. They listed examples in older PHBs of characters that evoked the classes. For me, the Psion (and Psychic Warriors) were all Super Heroes and Force Users. I wish these characters felt like that instead of being an assembly of a very wide suite of different abilities without thematic ties. Wizards should have a broad range of abilities - Psions should be tied thematically.

However, that design would likely require a lot more than a few pages in a book - it would likely allow a few pages per different power suite to be evoked ... the dozens I have are almost all in shorthand and the class document is nearly 70 pages.

 

[Micah Sweet]

One of several options, hopefully. Besides @Steampunkette 's Esper class, there is also the Psion class in the Voidrunner Codex from Level Up and Laser Llama's Psion class.

Right. I use those. I was talking about all the folks who insist it doesn't count unless WotC does it. They're finally getting their wish.

 

[Corinnguard]

Right. I use those. I was talking about all the folks who insist it doesn't count unless WotC does it. They're finally getting their wish.

Only if they properly and carefully worded their wish in order to leave very little room for interpretation.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Also, how does Blue Rose do it? I've always been interested in that setting, but not enough to drop $30 on a product I'll almost certainly never use. (Although it would make a great lost Concord World for the Radiant Citadel setting.)

Blue Rose does it by having a whole bunch of "Arcana", which can be anything from your body counting as a magic weapon to telepathy to various kinds of -kinesis (all call "X shaping"), many of them involving you making tests to do stuff rather than automatically succeeding like D&D does out of combat, and with probably over 90% of them fitting comfortably in what D&D has traditionally called "psionics".

(I can't entirely recommend Blue Rose overall because whilst it's a cool setting, I personally feel like it's rather dated and fiddly. It originates in 2005 and even the 2020 version, which was updated I think in 2023 feels like a pre-2010 kind of RPG.)

Another recently popular fantasy setting apart from Hobb's which uses psionic-style magic is the better known Shadow & Bone/Grishaverse one, note (by Leigh Bardugo). In fact, the Grishaverse makes an explicit split between psionic-style magic, sometimes called "The Small Science" (of which most people only know one type - like say pyrokinesis or biokinesis, though a few can use more than one - and they do generally take a scientific-leaning approach to the powers) and true miraculous reality-altering magic, which is seen as a terrifying abomination. Bardugo has entirely different approaches to magic in some of her other works, too.

 

[Li Kao]

Given I don't think 5E necessarily has a whole lot of gas left in the tank, I'm less annoyed than I would have been back when I thought we were getting 5-10 more years (or more!) of 5E.

I’m curious about what you mean by that, honestly, couldn’t care less about drama.
Do you think the hegemony of D&D is truly over ? Or that WotC will fast track a 6e ?

 

[Kurotowa]

Still turning over mechanical implications, but I'm looking over the Disciplines and zeroing in on Swift Precognition. The cost scales quickly with spell level, but you should be able to quicken a cantrip for only one Psionic Energy Die. And what're the Abjuration and Divination cantrips on the Psion spell list? Blade Ward and True Strike.

Those are some pretty good options as a Bonus Action, for the right character. My only disappointment is that the Metamorph's special weapons are locked to either the Attack action or an Opportunity Attack. A Bonus Action True Strike doesn't count, though I believe a True Strike nested inside the Attack action with their Extra Attack variant would allow it. Still, if you're taking shots with the Viscera Launcher, tossing an extra Dart as a Bonus Action isn't bad.

 

[Weiley31]