Expanded Psionics: Buying?

[ChainsawJoe]

Read my mind . . . {{{No}}}

In almost three decades of playing D&D, I have never played a character with psionics or otherwise used the psionics rules, and I'm not about to start now.

 

[Piratecat]

I've got so many good plot ideas from this book, it makes my head swoon. It was well worth the money.

 

[Greg K]

I am definitely not buying it. I hated the 3.0 Psionics Handbook and have not seen anything in WOTC's previews for the 3.5 version that makes me want to buy it. In fact, the WOTC previews for the new version made me glad that I had chosen to buy Green Ronin's Psychic's Handbook.

 

[Winterthorn]

Haven't decided--leaning to the negative

I bought the 3.0 Psionics book out of curiosity at the time, just before D&D v.3.5 was announced. Learning a short while later that the Psionics 3.0 would be revised in a year or so, I wasn't pleased.

Over time, I leafed through the 3.0 book and set it aside realizing that psionics was more appropriate to a d20 sci-fi game than the classic fantasy I've always enjoyed. In fact, the farthest I'd explore psionics in D&D would be to run a game where magic (both arcane and divine) was totally replaced by psionics... Somehow the idea of both psionics and magic in the same game is just too "over the top" for me. Not my "cuppa tea". Its one OR the other for this DM.

I will make my decision once I have had the chance to browse through a copy--if it's really well done, I might cave-in and buy it. It will have to convince me on its own merits! :\

W.

PS: Gee, its been eons since I last posted! Somehow I feel like Rip Van Winkle...

 

[dren]

oh yeah baby!

 

[johnsemlak]

I wasn't interested in Psionics previously. But after reading the previews and gaining appreciation for the way Psionics, and this book in particular, can expand the game, I definitely want it.

 

[Samurai]

I own the 3.0 Psionics book, but never really used it. It had some good ideas, but just too many problems with balance and mechanics.

I'm happy to report that the 3.5 version is FAR superior. Scalable powers, much better balance, many more choices. Many of the powers (and the way they are organized) have been rebuilt from the ground up. No more seperate attack and defense modes, for instance (I always felt they should simply be psionic powers, same as all the other powers, and now they are.) I'm excited about creating a psionic character now, and I want to use this book! (unlike the 3.0)

You know, I've been VERY hesitant to get into 3.5. I felt that 3.0 was good enough, and no way was I spending all that money on books that are essentially the same. But Mongoose's Pocket Players Handbook was cheap enough that I finally gave in and got it. While I still don't have the 3.5 versions of the DMs Guide and MM, I did buy Complete Warrior (despite having Sword and Fist) and now Psionics 3.5. I have to say that both of these books are vast improvements over their 3.0 counterparts, and if this significantly higher level of quality is maintained, they will eventually make a 3.5 convert out of me...

 

[Plane Sailing]

Definitely. I use the "psionics" rules as a different thread of magic in my campaign (called "Magery"). In this campaign it isn't considered mental powers, it is considered to be just a completely different style of magic.

 

[Sir Whiskers]

definitely getting it; how soon I will actually use it will depend on how quickly someone (maybe even me!) puts out a psionics spreadsheet.

The early fan reaction sounds good, but I'm still on the fence - after being burned by the first book, I'm waiting for more in-depth reviews. And I'm waiting for an electronic aid, too. I don't have the time anymore to create characters from scratch, so a psionic character generator is a must-have (at least it is for me).

Yeah, I'm lazy...

 

[Big_Daddy]

Danger Captain! Not-so-humble-opinion approaching!!!

Psionics? Pfffffft!

What's the point if you have magic? What's the point of having magic if you have psionics?

Nah, to me they're the same thing. Yes, I know they are actually different, but on a campaign level, the seem redundant to the point of being quite silly.

So, NO, I will not be buying it. No matter how "impressive" or "fixed" it may be.