[Exp.Psionics] New issue of Dragon reveals info. (Now corrected by Bruce C.)

[Plane Sailing]

Not this frackin' "blood loss == Con damage" furphy again.

I agree with this principle - I house ruled all blood drain to be STR loss first, and then CON loss once STR had all gone (e.g. from stirges, vampire suck, dire weasels etc)

Did somebody say that this spell/power was a "Dragon" one rather than one from the books themselves?

 

[hong]

I agree with this principle - I house ruled all blood drain to be STR loss first, and then CON loss once STR had all gone (e.g. from stirges, vampire suck, dire weasels etc)

Note that you'll run into exactly the same problem (some forms of blood loss are bloodier than others), you just don't die from it this way.

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

Neutralize poison stops the druid spell in its tracks. Death ward stops all death effects. Con loss is con loss and can kill a lot of characters.

It really isn't that bad guys. Don't panick.

To do the 5d4 Con damage, you basically have to manifest a 7th level power. It saves as a 3rd level power. It is effected by SR as a 3rd level power. It requires a ranged touch attack and a saving throw. If successful, it deals a max of 20 points of Con, average is 10. Most things will not die instantly.

Now look a Disentegrate. It's a 6th level spell. It also requires a ranged touch attack and a saving throw. However, it saves as a 6th level spell, and if you fail, you die. It also has the bonus utility effect of destroying nonliving matter.

 

[woodelf]

Yea, with the latest news from Dragon, and the new rules for Focus, psionics appears to be really shaping up.

New rules for Focus? Care to share?

 

[reiella]

It really isn't that bad guys. Don't panick.

To do the 5d4 Con damage, you basically have to manifest a 7th level power. It saves as a 3rd level power. It is effected by SR as a 3rd level power. It requires a ranged touch attack and a saving throw. If successful, it deals a max of 20 points of Con, average is 10. Most things will not die instantly.

Now look a Disentegrate. It's a 6th level spell. It also requires a ranged touch attack and a saving throw. However, it saves as a 6th level spell, and if you fail, you die. It also has the bonus utility effect of destroying nonliving matter.

Hmm, is Power Resistance based on Power Level in the revision?

Also for Disintegrate, remember, it's save or Massive Damage now .

 

[Dark Psion]

New rules for Focus? Care to share?

Psionic focus was from the last issue of Dragon (#316) and is the new Psionic feat mechanism. Instead of having Reserve power points, now you must achieve Psionic Focus through use of the Concentration skill (and you can Take 20 and 2 minutes to do this Automatically).

Some Psionic feats become active when you achieve Psionic focus and remain active till you expend it, go unconscious, use all your power points or go to sleep.

Some Psionic feats require to the expend Psionic focus, to sacrifice it in a burst of psionic energy to use the feat. You can regain Psionic focus as a full round action or as a Move action if you have the Psionic Meditation feat.

You can also expend Psionic focus to Take15 on an Concentration check or reduce the cost of a Meta-Psionic feat by 2.

The reasoning here is that a Psychic Warrior, who has all these psionic feats may not be able to use them if she has used too many of her powers and no longer has enougth power points in reserve. With Psionic focus, as long as she has 1 power point, she can still use her feats and that Crystal Capacitor with just 1 power point in it just became a little more valuable.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I agree with this principle - I house ruled all blood drain to be STR loss first, and then CON loss once STR had all gone (e.g. from stirges, vampire suck, dire weasels etc)

Did somebody say that this spell/power was a "Dragon" one rather than one from the books themselves?

Yup, from the Dragon Mag only.

 

[Amrynn Moonshadow]

few points... before i get back to lurking

* these changes seem quite akin to what the players want, and hopefully brings it a few steps closer to be in the PHB down the line . . . (envisions a time where psions and clerics and rangers and fighters can sit down at the gaming table of brotherhood . . .)

* crystals . . . why? well, energies can be stored in rocks, like crystals. it was just taken to crazy lengths in the PsiPHB, i think. it's not just for crystals, look at the stones from "Temple of Doom" which were activated. (actually google the concept, such stones do exist in india and are speculated to be ancient power sources for the vimanas . . .)

* psionics isn't just sci-fi, which alot of people thought it was. this is the backlash of the movie the 'matrix' which had things like 'run up the walls' etc. personally i think a psionic character is the 'magic' mystical master to the 'might' character of the monk -- both, imo, have eastern flavours in some respects.

completely different attitudes towards using your body and minds than the more western/european big plate mail knight and wizard who uses up spell slots and forgets the spell after casting it. similarly, what we would today call psionics is detailed significantly all over hindu holy books (from astral projections, to esp, to clairsentient abilities and so forth)

that's not to say that the east has divine rights on Psionics, because it doesn't. some people don't like to believe that all this para-science exists, but it does; even today. there are those who have powers to see things that others don't see. some have the ability to affect their physical world (bending spoons and forks, to setting fires, to moving things about randomly at the onset of puberty...). some have really high constitutions and unlock the powers of the mind to sublimate pain and torture (like yogis who bring their heart rate down to 30/min and stay in a para-conscious state while being set on fire).

people can fight, it's in the game. people can sneak, it's in the game. people can heal, and track, and tumble -- and it's all in the game. why deny humanity's greatest talents from being put side-by-side the other characters in the phb?

(whatever . . . i'm just stupid)

 

[Videssian]

few points... before i get back to lurking

* these changes seem quite akin to what the players want, and hopefully brings it a few steps closer to be in the PHB down the line . . . (envisions a time where psions and clerics and rangers and fighters can sit down at the gaming table of brotherhood . . .)

I know I like it.. though I'm still waiting on seeing how they're going to handle conversion of existing 3.0 characters (who may or may not be dependent on a different main stat than INT).. I'm also keen on seeing the other psionic classes as well..

* psionics isn't just sci-fi, which alot of people thought it was. this is the backlash of the movie the 'matrix' which had things like 'run up the walls' etc. personally i think a psionic character is the 'magic' mystical master to the 'might' character of the monk -- both, imo, have eastern flavours in some respects.

completely different attitudes towards using your body and minds than the more western/european big plate mail knight and wizard who uses up spell slots and forgets the spell after casting it. similarly, what we would today call psionics is detailed significantly all over hindu holy books (from astral projections, to esp, to clairsentient abilities and so forth)

A great source of material on psionics that could be used in a campaign are the Deryni series by Katherine Kurtz, and even better, the Saga of Pliocene Exile by Julian May.. awesome books!

that's not to say that the east has divine rights on Psionics, because it doesn't. some people don't like to believe that all this para-science exists, but it does; even today. there are those who have powers to see things that others don't see. some have the ability to affect their physical world (bending spoons and forks, to setting fires, to moving things about randomly at the onset of puberty...). some have really high constitutions and unlock the powers of the mind to sublimate pain and torture (like yogis who bring their heart rate down to 30/min and stay in a para-conscious state while being set on fire).

I agree that highly developed yogis can ignore pain and control functions that are usually thought of as part of the autonomic nervous system (heart rate and so forth).. The other bit though, about bending spoons and pyrokinesis and the like, IMO, isn't true.. One reason I can say that is that there is a longstanding prize out there (>$1000000) for anyone that can demonstrate it, in front of witnesses, and in controlled circumstances. No-one's done it yet. That sort of thing has been well debunked... But getting into that goes outside of the scope of the discussion, so I'll say no more on it..

ttyl,
Videssian

 

[woodelf]

The other bit though, about bending spoons and pyrokinesis and the like, IMO, isn't true.. One reason I can say that is that there is a longstanding prize out there (>$1000000) for anyone that can demonstrate it, in front of witnesses, and in controlled circumstances. No-one's done it yet. That sort of thing has been well debunked... But getting into that goes outside of the scope of the discussion, so I'll say no more on it..

ttyl,
Videssian

Unless, of course, these phenomena are subjective, in the literal sense of the word--if they are literally created by the observers, then the mere presence of a skeptic could prevent them from ever functioning, yet they would objectively function if all present were believers. And modern science would *never* confirm them, due to its basis in rigorous skepticism and objective verification. There have been some interesting hypotheses for quantum-based psychic abilities, and several of them would include strong observer dependence, thus making reproduction in controlled circumstances impossible, if those circumstances included skeptics.

And i'm not entirely certain this is off-topic. It would be a very interesting way to run powers (or magic) in some settings. It would be the logical extension of the imagination powers in Grimm, and goes right along with concepts like wild magic and the solipsistic spells (and some of the others from the Thought sphere) in 2nd ed. Not to mention, it's sort of a more extreme version of how illusions work in D&D, currently.

And it could be the basis for a far more interesting psionic combat system, one based on, basically, clash of willpower and belief between the various psychics--the defender attempting to convince herself that she really didn't believe in the attackers powers. Much like the way some people used to play illusions--if you gave any indication you weren't positive it was an illusion, you automatically failed your save (IOW, "no flinching").