Expanded Psionics Handbook Play Use?

[dren]

Both in conjunction. +4d6 Dissolving Weapon when unpumped and +2d6 Psionic Weapon. I guess calling it "regular" is a bit overstepping it... more like "once per combat when it really counts." Is there a rule that we missed that prohibits that combo?

Psionic weapon does +2d8, and the earliest it is available is 7th level, not 5th.

 

[Perun]

I have a psion (kineticist) in my RttToEE game, and he is one very powerful character. Even the other players are starting to express some concerns about his power.

I house-ruled Energy Missile (+2 PP gives you +1d6 and +1 DC), Dispel Psionics (+6 PP and you can dispel check becomes d20 + manifester level, up to 20), and the Improved Manyshot feat.

From what I gathered so far, the psionics and magic systems are only superficially similar, but work in a vastly different ways. This leads to certain extremely powerful combinations that standard spell-slot-using casters cannot exploit.

I'm mainly referring to the fact that a spellcaster can use his higher-level spell slots to cast lower-level spells (and this is only rarely useful, really), while a manifester freely uses his PP pool to manifest powers of any level. This gives them unmatched versatility, and pushes the sorcerer (a core class!) far, far in the background.

As a not-really-that-extreme example, consider the 11th-level psion. He gets Piosnic Disintegrate (a spell/power that, with the exception of SR, there's no effective counter-measure), and deals 22d6. And he has a minimum of 122 PP, allowing him to manifest it 11 times, before (practically) running out of PP. A wizard could do it once, maybe twice (if he's a specialist). He would still have all of his lower-level spells, but you can't compare that with the sheer destructive effectiveness of Disintegrate (it's a non-typed, all-affecting destructive power). A sorcerer has to wait till he's 12th level, and then he can cast about three 6th-level spells.

Now, don't get me wrong. I like the idea behing the XPH, and I find it the vast improvement over the PsiHB. The races are interesting, the classes are nice. It's just that dsigners just let a number of unneccessarily weird and powerful feats and powers to crawl in (a 8th-level psion with Overchannel, Talented, and Maximise Power (that's three out of his 5 feats, 6 if he's human) can routinely manifest Dispel Psionics with a dispel check of 30 for 9 PP (he has a base of 58 PP, plus modifier), the wizard has to wait till 11th level to do the same, and the sorcerer till 12th level). These, along with the flavour features that have mechanical uses (like the no components thing -- a feature that allows psions to manifest powers while paralised, held, bound, pinned *and* gagged) can put them signifficantly ahead of their spellcasting counterparts.

I believe that XPH provides an excellent supplement for a campaign, if you decide to run a psionics-only campaign.

 

[Arc]

Does anyone else find it intensely funny that Deja Vu appears twice (on page 91 and 92)?

 

[Creamsteak]

Psionic weapon does +2d8, and the earliest it is available is 7th level, not 5th.

Psionic weapon does +2d6 and is available at 1st level if you have a strength of 13 and are qualified to take psionic feats.

Psychic Strike (Soul-Knife Class Feature) is +2d8 at 7th level, but also +1d8 at 3rd level.

FYI.

 

[Daniel Knight]

Does anyone else find it intensely funny that Deja Vu appears twice (on page 91 and 92)?

What the?

LOL! That's awesome!

 

[JoeGKushner]

As I'm reading throught it, I find it has some great stuff but also some questionable stuff.

1. Still don't like the Soul Knife.

2. Psychic Warriors: Has anyone run one of these? Does having the lower cleric BAB heavily effect the class? I believe that the old version also had access to Weapon Specialization. (I miss my old book!)

3. Psionic Combat: I am missing it? I haven't finished the book but I've looked the whole thing over and made a few quick NPCs for testing purposes (against my poor players!) and didn't notice anything about it and did see several former combat modes as powers.

4. Half-Giants: Can a half giant use a bastard sword in one hand without the proficiency? They are still medium creatures but their special ability might give a nod in the Yes direction.

5. Errata: Are there any huge things I should know about as I read through this? I know about the BAB thing with the one class and the Deja Vu thing was funny but are there any game effecting issues? I can't get to WoTC site from work. Damn them!

6. Artifacts: Why is it that all of the artifacts here are 'cool' but also so lame? Where are the deep crystal swords made in a bygone era that have signifigance or something?

7. Epic Level PrCs: Did they do anything with these PrCs to make them epic online or ?

 

[dren]

Psionic weapon does +2d6 and is available at 1st level if you have a strength of 13 and are qualified to take psionic feats.

Psychic Strike (Soul-Knife Class Feature) is +2d8 at 7th level, but also +1d8 at 3rd level.

FYI.

Sorry, what I meant to say was Greater Psionic Weapon is available, at the earliest time, at 7th level because of the +5 BAB requirement. But only if you do not take the normal feat granted at 6th level. This does +4d6 dmg, which at the time what I thought he was refering to.

 

[diaglo]

What are people doing with it?

mine is collecting dust on my shelf with the rest of my books.

we aren't using psionics in the campaign i'm a player in... so mostly i bought it for my curiosity and collection completion...

 

[Piratecat]

I house-ruled Energy Missile (+2 PP gives you +1d6 and +1 DC), Dispel Psionics (+6 PP and you can dispel check becomes d20 + manifester level, up to 20)

As well you should; these are both almost certainly typos. Joe, I started a "XPH typos and errors" thread in Rules that has errata and known mistakes in it.

I'm running a psiwarrior now. With a 2/3rds BAB, they're perfectly strong and able to hold their own in combat. This is a class that is strongest when they have a few rounds to prepare, and when there is only one or two fights a day. In those circumstances it shines. Since I can easily blow half my PP on a single fight, though, they even out in a multi-fight dungeon setting. Note that there is now a power that simulates the effect of weapon specialization.

Psionic combat is now gone, the powers merged into the normal power set for psions et al, and I don't miss it one bit. Some folks are still using Bruce's Mindscapes psionic combat, which works well with this class.

 

[Davelozzi]

Errata: Are there any huge things I should know about as I read through this?

Piratecat's thread is indeed useful, but the heart of the matter is:

Originally posted by Andrew Finch at WotC boards:
With your help, Bruce Cordell and I have identified some rules contradictions in the Expanded Psionics Handbook. Although it is too early to release official errata for this book, please consider these changes official:

Pg 27: Soulknife — Listen is a class skill. Skill points are correct at 4 + Int modifier per level (Table 3–1: Skill Points per Level, on page 35, incorrectly lists the soulknife's skill points per level as 2 + Int modifier).

Pg 36: Autohypnosis — The DC for Resist Dying should be 20, as listed in the table (not 15, as listed in the adjoining text).

Pg 190: Blue — Blues have a level adjustment of +1, as given in the "Blues as Characters" section (not +0, as listed in the previous page's monster entry).

In addition to clearing up these contradictions, we would like to add the following:

Pg 96: Dominate, Psionic — The following paragraph was omitted from the power's description:

“4. If you spend 1 additional power point, this power’s duration is 1 hour rather than concentration. If you spend 2 additional power points, this power’s duration is 1 day rather than concentration. If you spend 4 additional power points, this power’s duration is 1 day per manifester level rather than concentration.”

General Notes Concerning Errata:
When the text within a product contradicts itself, our general policy is that the primary source is correct and any secondary reference is incorrect. This means that the skill list in the character chapter is correct, the table in the skill chapter is merely referencing that information and is therefore a secondary source. Exceptions to the rule (such as the Autohypnosis inconsistency, above) will be called out specifically.

In general, if a mechanic works as printed, we don’t change it, even if it doesn't exactly work as the designers and developers intended. However, we feel that the duration of the psionic dominate power is something fundamental to psionics, and not addressing the omission violates of the spirit of the Expanded Psionics Handbook.

We are sorry for any confusion these errors may have caused you in the use of this product, and we hope that these clarifications will help you enjoy the Expanded Psionics Handbook in your gaming group more.

We are aware of other errata issues. As with all our products, formal errata will be issue as soon as we have time to compile it. The official errata for the Expanded Psionics Handbook will include the information presented above.

__________________
Andrew J. Finch
Development Manager
RPG R&D/Miniatures R&D
Wizards of the Coast