How do you like you psionic flavor?

[Ry]

I use it as my whole magic system, a la "Magic comes from the mind"

Wizard, Mage, and Psion refer to the same thing.

 

[Hussar]

I gotta admit, I like where Scarred Lands went with psionics. A disease left over from an ancient race that neither the Divine nor the Titans had any links to. Why does the disease give people psionics? Is it some sort of first step to bringing back that ancient race? Lots of goodies there.

 

[Alzrius]

I personally don't care much for the ideas linking psionics to dreams. The ephemeral nature of dreams seems to make psionics less substantive; like they can't directly affect and shape the world the way magic can, so psionics are forced to take a subtler route instead.

I much prefer the flavoring of psionics as a quasi-science. Ideas of psionic circuitry and matrices appeal to me. The crystal theme works somewhat well in that regard because it can be understood that crystals are physically shaped well to hold psychic energies.

 

[Trickstergod]

Eberron's presentation, thus far, is about the only one I can stomach. Crystals, pseudoscience and shades of evolution have little place in my typically presumed creationism-based worlds where the sun revolves around the planet and the stars are likely nothing more than a reflection of the planes than anything else.

Presenting it as a magic based off the world of dreams and madness sticks a lot better with me than the province of aliens and the next step in evolution.

And, as such, it's about as different from arcane magic as divine magic is.

 

[Dragonhelm]

IMC, psi has always occupied the space 3E tried to put sorcerers into -- inherent power.

That's what got me hooked into psionics back in the 2e days. It was a system where you could use powers you knew over and over, provided you had the PSPs. Sorcerers (and mystics from Dragonlance) now fill this niche as well, though I view them a bit differently. Psionic characters tap into the inherent power of the mind. Sorcerers tap into the inherent ability to channel arcane magic. Mystics channel divine power through their inner divine spark.

I do not view psionics as magic. To me, that cheapens the unique value of psionics. Some view psionics as mind magic, and that's cool too.

In terms of crystals, I think that is one of the best innovations of psionics in 3rd edition. Crystals give psionics a fantasy feel, and help to give identity to the psionic classes.

Anyway, that's my take, and it's cool to see that there are a variety of ways to implement psionics.

 

[Thanee]

Just another type of arcane spell-like abilities.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Solarious]

I like my psionics with multiple interpetations.

Taking my favorite setting, Eberron, as an example, you have first and foremost Dal Quor, the plane of dreams as the most obvious (and least obvious villian) source of psionics. Then, secondary to Dal Quor, we have Xoriat, the plane of madness and all the nummy little illithids running about, trying to end the world. If you think psionics, these are the two first sources you can point your fingers at.

But then we have the Couatl, a serious power group manifested primarily as a divine force. What most people regularly forget is that Couatls have 'psionics' in the same vein as Mind Flayers do, and have a conversion section in the XPH. On the other side of the equation, we have the Aboleths, and if you use Keith's take on Aboleths, you have another psionics tradition to use, diametrical to the Couatls.

And of course, Eberron has Changelings everywhere. Their doppelganger ancestors have shapeshifting and mindreading powers, which translates very smoothly into the Telepath or Egotist traditions. Keith once said (and don't make me look it up, it's in one of his 4 huge Q&A threads on WotC) he was playing a Changeling Telepath who utilized psionics, but has little understanding of what exactly it was, and showed this mechanically with nil ranks in Knowledge (Psionics) or Psicraft.

These are the primary sources of psionics in Eberron, in my mind.

 

[Daijin]

I treat it as a different form of magic, mental magic, affected by dispel and vice versa. But I also use it to affect a demiplane of the Mind....

 

[Kristivas]

My preferential flavour is psionics as "new mental abilities". I like to approach it as an evolutionary feature and not a supernatural occurence. I prefer it to have a little bit of a "scientific" feel about it

Well-said. That's the road I generally take.

I always liked Psionics in DnD, but even moreso after watching Babylon-5. The Vorlons gave a few humans a little evolutionary nudge and set them down a path of psionics. Alfred Bester was one of my favorite characters on the show, and I loved the whole Psi Corps thing.

As far as magic goes, psionics is not. If a psion enters an antimagic field, his abilities will work fine. If a mage enters an antipsionic field, he can cast spells as usual. I do this in my games because I want psionics to be totally different from magic. It also helps a bit in encounters. I won't be afraid to nullify magic and totally cripple the party, because the psion can still do his thing and vice-versa with the mage.

 

[Aeric]

In the campaign before last, there were no psionics in the modern day. They were the purview of the First Ones, the first sentient race created by God. Like any good progentior race, the First Ones made a comeback later on in the campaign, and when they unleashed their psionic powers, the characters (and players) were flabbergasted. They had no idea what they were dealing with, which was suitable for the First Ones.

As for the flavor of the First Ones' power, it was a simple matter of power coming from within (psionics) as opposed to power coming from without (the wizard's mana or the cleric's channeling of the divine). I expanded upon the idea by saying that the First Ones could use psionics because they were closer to God in their ability to create things from nothing, and I hinted at the relationship between the First Ones and elves by allowing the elf in the party to multiclass into psychic warrior after absorbing the memories and personality of a First One trapped in a crystal.