How similar is manifesting to casting?

[Kylas]

I'm looking through expanded psionic handbook and I can't find where it specifically says manifesting a power provokes an attack of opportunity. There are a few places where it alludes to it. But no place where it specifically states it.

Also what other similarities and differences are there to casting and manifesting. I know psions don't need somatic components. Does this mean they can manifest with their hands full? How can you tell by sight or sound someone is manifesting? Can they manifest silently?


By the way I am in a Magic=Psionic campaign if that helps

Thanks!

 

[kevin_video]

One of our players was a Psion in our last campaign, I have to tell you she kicked major but by the time she was 20th lvl. Holy crap, nothing could touch her. It was ridiculous. The one nice thing that we experienced with her being a psionic was no ASF. None. You can use whatever armour you like, and it didn't affect you. Also, you could pretty much cast whatever you wanted, however you wanted. All you had to say was that you were going to expend the points to do a quickened, empowered, whatever power, and you did it. There's no spell slots that you have to use. So if you wanted to use a 9th level spell, and have it quickened, you can't as a caster. However, as a psionic, you just had to pay the extra points. The other nice thing is that weapons, armour, and items can all have an ability put in them so you can "gather" more power points from them. Where as with a spell caster, unless you had pearls of power for that particular level, you were out and that was that. Not with a psionic though. I don't really see a downside to psionics, other than prestige classes are a little limited. As well, it really helps you to have a psionic race before hand. Not that you can't use a regular race to be one, it's just that you don't get bonus power points.

Other than that, there's not much else I can tell you other than your character has to remain focused, a lot.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

First of all: Psionic Powers Overview :: d20srd.org
"Manifesting Powers on the Defensive
If you want to manifest a power without provoking attacks of opportunity, you need to dodge and weave. You must make a Concentration check (DC 15 + the level of the power you’re manifesting) to succeed. You lose the power points without successful manifestation if you fail."

Manifesting can be done in armor, because it has no somatic components. It also has no verbal components, though it does have a display, which can be audible (type of display determined by power used). You can make a concentration DC 15 + power level to manifest without a display.
Manifesting is a purely mental action, so while it can be disrupted like a spell, there are times you could not cast that you can manifest. For example, if you were left physically paralyzed but still able to take mental actions.

In general, psionics is a lot more flexible with an individual power due to augmentation, but you also have no class like the wizard that can just plain know a ton of powers. Also, some categories of powers become really expensive because you have to pay to augment with power points what a wizard would get for free. The biggest example is evocations (kinetics). Each extra d6 costs you a power point. Every 2 power points is like paying to raise the power's level by 1 (compared to spells) roughly. I strongly recommend not being a psionic blaster. You can pump your damage a little higher than an evoker, but the cost is outrageous. The only blasting powers worth taking, IMHO, are the ones that break the normal dynamics. For example, energy stun, which adds +1 DC for each PP you add, instead of every 2. I think Energy Missiles was good for the same reason, I forget.

EDIT: That reminds me, you basically need ot expend your psionic focus to do anything special at all, even apply metapsionic feats. So wis 13 and the Psionic Meditation feats are IMHO just as much requirements of a psionic character as Natural Spell is for a Druid. You just need it to function.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#psionicMeditation

 

[irdeggman]

Also what other similarities and differences are there to casting and manifesting. I know psions don't need somatic components. Does this mean they can manifest with their hands full? How can you tell by sight or sound someone is manifesting? Can they manifest silently?

Pg 58 under "Display". Each power's entry lists what its "display" is.

Also do not forget the rule on page 63 for pp limit on powers.

The maximum number of points you can spend on a power (for any reason) is equal to your manifester level.

Powers require only mental concentration to manifest - hence no entry for type of components (e.g., verbal, somantic, material). They do require concentration to manifest and maintain though.

Also as has been pointed out keep track of the character's mental focus - this is a real limiting factor for a lot of things and is often overlloked as a "balancing" factor for psionics versus magic in a game.

Also Complete Psionic modifed a lot of the powers - so make sure to check there for the "correct" version of them.

 

[Darklone]

That reminds me of a halfling psio that was nearly knocked out, chained, gagged, put into a barrel and thrown into a river...

A few minutes later he walked back into the bar where that happened and ordered a drink...

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Also Complete Psionic modifed a lot of the powers - so make sure to check there for the "correct" version of them.

I recommend the opposite: Completely and unmercifully ignore C.Psionic like it was a man laying by the side of the road starving that had murdered your family last week.

Not only did it add just about nothing useful to psionics unlike the other Complete books. It actually nerfed powers that were completely balanced for no good reason. For example, applying DR to some creation powers even though conjuration spells never got the same treatment (with a few very rare exceptions), and most annoyingly of all, limiting Astral Construct to only summon one creature into effect a time time, and then having the balls to add a prestige class that exists just to give your this "overpowered" ability back!

There's a reason C.Psi is possibly THE most hated WotC book from 3.5

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

I recommend the opposite: Completely and unmercifully ignore C.Psionic like it was a man laying by the side of the road starving that had murdered your family last week.

There are good things in the book. The Ardent class. The Soulbow. The Illithid feats. Sure, they don't make any sense given existing fluff... but if you take the existing fluff into account they raise all sorts of nasty implications for Illithid plots. The Flayerspawn Psychic leads right into that.

Most of the feats section is a waste of paper as written, but many of the racial feats are the perfect basis upon which to build racial paragon classes for the psionic races. Some of the psionic feats are decent. The shape mindblade feats are a neat idea, but could have been handled with a single feat.

It's probably one of my favorite Complete books, right after Arcane and Mage.

 

[Kylas]

I guess this solves it. In the PHB though under the combat chapter there is a section on casting spells. In that section there is a paragraph about AoO's. It says: "Generally, if you cast a spell, you provoke attacks of opportunity from threatening enemies. If you take damage from an attack of opportunity..."

Essentially I was looking for a phrases as explicit as that. The question came up in play and I couldn't give an actual reason why they do cause AoO's other than I know that they do. No somatic components and no spells failure made it seem like you could Physically do whatever you want while manifesting ( within reason). Just wanted to make sure I was correct in my assumption.

Also one of the players in my campaign is an ardent/rouge. He's petty badass when he Earth Walks and drops in for a sneak attack, only to Dimesion Hop back to the roof. So Com.Psi is good for something.

 

[Elethiomel]

It is odd that manifesting provokes attacks of opportunity, seeing as you can manifest while paralyzed. When you're paralyzed, you can't move your body at all, no matter whether you're manifesting or not... so why should you provoke an AOO when you're manifesting while paralyzed, and not provoke an AOO when it's your turn and you're just paralyzed?

 

[Dross]

On the wizards board somewhere, and its a number of years old at least, someone had an essay about why psionics were not overpowered.

It covers a lot of points mentioned here plus a lot more. I've lost it and haven't spent time looking for it yet, Google should find it for you.

Also remember the ACP for non-proficiency in the armour: all attacks (which I assume would cover any to hit rolls required with psionics), & STR/DEX ability and skill checks.

Psionics have the better ability to go nova in their damage, but have 4 + encounters a day and they can run out of PP's. Wizards and Co can't max out damage in short bursts like psionics can.