How do you like you psionic flavor?

[Tonguez]

The first use of Psionics IMC was with the Iskandrya a race of goldenskinned Ultra-humans who live in the floating city of Al-Damasq.

The Iskandrya are all descended from an ancient human seer who accompanied the First Emperor Ibn-Daoud across the desert. The Iskandrya live for 200 years and are all naturally psychic (using psionics at will), they use crystals as tools to focus and store the psi-energy and it is a particularily large Crystal that keeps the plateau upon which Al-Damasq is built floating above the ground.
Below it the Low City is occupied by normal humans who farm and supply tribute to the Iskandrya.

The Crystals of the Iskandrya can be harnessed by some normal humans as 'foci' to allow them to also develop psionic abilities (although never as great as the Iskandrya)

 

[Aus_Snow]

What flavor do you like your psionics to have? And is that how you would like to see published material?

Psychic's Handbook and yes, respectively.

 

[Nellisir]

I like it as another form of magic. I'd consider using it as the only form of magic if not for nomenclature.

 

[kigmatzomat]

What flavor do you like your psionics to have? And is that how you would like to see published material?

IMC the world has an ambient background energy field, in part because the plane is almost an "outerplane" and has certain subtle, non-traditional aspects that only really become evident at the divine level.

Unlike FR's Weave, the background energy is too weak to power any significant spell. IMC psionics is ambient power that has been filtered and stored by a living being. Arcane magic uses the same ambient power but use tools and long rituals in the case of wizards (IMO the "memorizing" is actually precasting the bulk of the spell), while sorcerers use a halfway point between psionics and wizardry by developing an internalized process for absorbing power but still dependant on the tools of wizardry. Divine casters rely on their connection to some divinity to focus the power to a useful density.

I use the "Psionics are magic" approach as it is the same power, just a different means of gathering it.

One pantheon of divinities hates psionics since they cannot control it. They have "poisoned" the knowledge of arcane magic with rituals that make it dependent on the gods of magic so that they can essentially turn magic off and on at will. IMC even sorcerers require a spellbook and some training to master the basic components of arcane casting and are thus polluted by the disinformation at the beginning. Psionics has no requirements on external rituals and is virtually impossible to control so that group of gods hates it utterly and have declared it "demon spawned witchcraft."

Sooooooo....not something I would expect in a published setting.

 

[pawsplay]

I like my psionics as a form of enlightenment giving one control over the physical world, but rooted in biology. I like the idea of psionic mutants and such. Whether or not it is a form of magic depends on the campaign; 3e lumps it in with magic, so that is how I would use it unless I had a reason for doing otherwise in the campaign. If it is something different, it still has traits in common with magic, the powers of deities, and the supernatural powers of the soul. IMC, alignments are important and curses and profound enlightenment are possible. The same power that souls have to serve the ends of their deities or draw on divine magic can also be turned inward, to make the individual a vessel of spiritual energy.

I view it similarly to the Force; something tied to living beings and specific biological traits, but affecting and reflecting a deeper invisible reality that transcends matter.

 

[Greg K]

I'm with el-Remmen and Aus Snow. Psychic's Handbook!

 

[Evilhalfling]

psionics enterened my campaign with a legacy. all halflings were evil psionsists

It was their primary racial magic, with dwarves using divine and elves mixing magic with metal (few arch mages, many gish) Humans use divine primarily, with only a single culture training large numbers of wizards. Only a rare few humans using psionics. Sorcery flowed from demons or angels (mostly demons due to an incursion.) Sorcery was far more common than wizards in most areas.

For the next campaign, im jumping the world forward (700 yrs) and involving a new culture that depended on psionics to the near exclusion of arcane magic
(they had little celestial/infernal contact and were too hard pressed militarily to spend the time and money necessary for wizards)

Wizardry relies on large amount of cash and friendly attitudes among wizards. They are really the most social class, the only one that can (by RAW) help each other to become better. If a society lacks the cohesion and spare cash to create wizards there should be only a few. Conversly Psionics can be developed introspectivley through mediatation.

None of my group like psionics as much as I do (the current DM is even running Eberron with out it.) so....

There will have been an Unreal War - between cultures supported by psionics and arcanists. The wizards will have won, driving human psions into the background, and making it illeagal/andimmoral. I will prolly uses the secretive houses from complete psion (otherwise a seldom used book) Halflings will have suffered as part of the backlash, and their psionics will be greatly reduced.

Before this thread I was just using the default crystal bias, but perhaps I will reconsider.
thanks

 

[Valesin]

I like it as an ancient and mysterious power that is different from magic (and they don't interact well, i.e. I am in the psionics is "different" camp), and is not very common or well-understood.

BTW, i don't use WotC psionics, but Green Ronin's Psychic Handbook (slightly tweaked) as it is closer to the 2E psionics I prefer.

When I use psionics that is the route I take (and the source I use). I just don't see the point of having psionics be a different mechanic to achieve the exact same results as spells. The game has over a thousand spells now; do you really need powers that do the same things, are dispelled in the same way, and are subject to the same resistances?

3e psionics, in an attempt to 'fit in' better with the core game, made powers identical to spells in almost every way. Why bother with them then?

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Although I don't actually disallow psionics I really haven't seen or used it in any of my games since the late '90's and the 2E system. Without having actively used any 3E psionics I can't judge well if any publishers particular approach works for me or not. Having said that I LIKE the idea of psionics largely because I also liked (indeed was weaned on) the idea of the earliest D&D settings that mixed a little sci-fi in with the fantasy, such as Blackmoor and the Wilderlands.

I think of psionics in a rather 1E sort of way actually. An ability that is extremely rare, but known to exist. Perhaps as a practice that all but died out, but is slowly regaining favor as might be evidenced by a psionic PC. Psionics, when PC's oppose it, is also highly POWERFUL - something that has VERY few known defenses. It is simply a monstrous special ability that must be endured and survived as you defeat the opponent using it against you by traditional means.

The real problem with psionics in any form I have known for PC's is that it is too powerful on the face of it unless you make it nearly as common as magic, and that it has always been geared to be death on a stick for a PC vs. a single opponent particularly when that opponent does not HAVE psionic abilities or extensive psionic defenses. This is greatly unlike D&D magic which has traditionally been geared more for the single PC in a small party taking on opponents en masse.

My ideal psionic system then would enable me to throw psionic monsters (and especially NPC's) at the characters WITHOUT immediately putting them in TPK territory, and without needing to build psionics into my game world as a long-standing and widespread tradition. It would also not require me to cease using the ever-popular singular BBEG as boss monster for fear that the psion would simply pwn him.

Psionics should be different from magic, but in doing so it must not require MORE psionics in return to maintain a check upon it.

 

[Kurashu]

In my campaign, Psionics is used as an alternative to Arcane magic. Although, this takes place soley in the desert where the fall never took place, or at least to little extent. Divine magic is used in both areas. However, this is only the "home continent" Thýon. I'm yet to decide if other continents have all three or a mish mash like Thýon.