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.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

... so it's a sorcerer with an "Energy Die" rather than Sorcery Points, and with 'Disciplines' like 'Devilish Tongue' they get to use their energy dice like Bardic Inspiration.

Maybe. And int based. Still a lot better than just a subclass of something.

I'll stick to the Esper, thanks.

Link please?

 

[Remathilis]

... so it's a sorcerer with an "Energy Die" rather than Sorcery Points, and with 'Disciplines' like 'Devilish Tongue' they get to use their energy dice like Bardic Inspiration.

I'll stick to the Esper, thanks.

Better question: when the survey opens are you going to down vote it for not being to your ideal or are you going to say "this is fine, but I prefer esper"?

 

[Scribe]

Better question: when the survey opens are you going to down vote it for not being to your ideal or are you going to say "this is fine, but I prefer esper"?

If I am reminded to vote, I'd say it's good enough.

 

[SkidAce]

Yeah, its fine enough. I guess I would hope for a whole system for an official Wizards Psion.

Its neat to see a few things here or there that are similar to my Shadowdark Psion built over the last few months.

Certainly its better than the GOO Subclass approach.

Given the fact that I had accepted spell slots with reflavored spells, and no verbal, somatic components while waiting....it wont rock the boat much to adapt this to my campaign.

Did I want more? Yes.

Is this acceptable with my campaign's flavor and will we continue to enjoy playing with it? Yes.

 

[Von Ether]

Using current spells and referring to psionics as magic has two benefits for WotC.

There are hundreds of spell effects already written, which essentially means many psi powers would just basically be re-skinned spells rewritten to have a psionic flavor. This saves them time and effort.

And by using the word “magic” and providing familiar spell effects, GMs who ordinarily wouldn’t allow psionics in their games might be more open to the idea.

 

[DEFCON 1]

An unlikely ally in a time of great conflict!

In truth I want WotC to create a psion class just so that everyone will finally shut up about it. As we've seen from Spelljammer / Planescape / Dragonlance... when WotC gives a person what they want (but invariably not in the style or format or detail they wanted)... the complaints last for a couple months but then everyone just moves on. But if WotC doesn't give what a person wants... they keep complaining about this fact for years on end.

So it's the same reason why I hope WotC products a Dark Sun setting book and a Warlord class in some book sometime soon. They absolutely will not make any people HAPPY with their release as almost everyone will think that the results WotC produces will be piles of crap (as we've seen with Spelljammer / Planescape / Dragonlance, be careful what you wish for)... but at least those folks can't complain that they don't have it anymore.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

I think it's a safER bet this time. They aren't trying to reinvent the wheel, just expand what they did with the four psi classes into a full caster class. No new mechanics to balance, fairly low difficulty, very safe. The only two categories I see hating this are the people who hate all psionics and those who are married to a very specific interpretation of psionics. For everyone else, this is just another flavor of spellcaster.

I think this one has a good chance of getting though.

My specific interpretation of psionics is "they must do yoga to activate their powers" as per OD&D, so you better be able to hold that Eka Pada Rajakapotasana as a somatic component of your 9th level spell

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Also, another thing that came up; the "crystalline entity" being summoned by the summon astral entity spell makes me think we may see Shardminds as a race/species in whatever splatbook the psion also appears in.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm glad the folks who need to have WotC do this for them (perhaps they do a lot of official play?) Are finally potentially getting an option.

 

[Remathilis]

My specific interpretation of psionics is "they must do yoga to activate their powers" as per OD&D, so you better be able to hold that Eka Pada Rajakapotasana as a somatic component of your 9th level spell

Checks out. As Dan Brown once stated "Houdini was a Yoga master".