I think that the Martial proficiency is so that no-one can say "but you are not proficient with your own soul knife", and the soul knife is a martial to prevent it from stacking with the monk (possible d8+dex dual weapon attacks at level 2 would have been pretty nice.)
D&D 5E Let's discuss the Mystic v.3
I think that the Martial proficiency is so that no-one can say "but you are not proficient with your own soul knife", and the soul knife is a martial to prevent it from stacking with the monk (possible d8+dex dual weapon attacks at level 2 would have been pretty nice.)
I have been waiting for this since 5e was released. I have ALWAYS been a big fan of psionics but I do understand it has its detractors, and for a good reason. in my opinion psionics DOES need to be a "form of magic" otherwise you subvert the entire game system that is largely predicated towards magic. Psionics needs to be inclusive in this otherwise GM will just ban the use of them in their games.
The other thing that you need to take into account is the 5e mechanics themselves and how psionics relate. Things like Counterspell don't work on psionics for the pure reason that psionic disciplines don't have "levels" and aren't considered spellcasting, but things like Anit-magic field would and should work against psionics. There has to be a balance between the relationship of magic and psionic, they cannot be mutually exclusive in worlds so rooted in magic use.
My Monk (lvl14) sadly died in a campaign i'm in and the Mystc arrived just in time to join in. It takes a little getting used too, as the Mysitc is by far the most complex and arduous class they have released to date. However, once I got into the flow of it it was a very versatile class, and looking at other Mystic I think its one of the most diverse and customizable classes ever. You can be a battlefield leader (Warlord), if you want to be Psylocke from the marvel universe you can be, nothing seems to be out of its reach.
On the other hand, does this ability to be so customizable detract from playing the other classes, are the other classes now overshadowed by the versatility the Mystic offers? The only way to find out is to make one and play it for yourselves.
Focuses: I found this mechanic quite "unwieldy" constantly keeping track of what you change it too, plus having to give up your bonus action to do it was fairly time consuming and didn't "flow" as well as other classes. I would probably remove the mechanic all together and have something that is tied specifically to your Order.
Well, that's my two cents worth. sorry for the bad grammar and spelling.
The other thing that you need to take into account is the 5e mechanics themselves and how psionics relate. Things like Counterspell don't work on psionics for the pure reason that psionic disciplines don't have "levels" and aren't considered spellcasting, but things like Anit-magic field would and should work against psionics. There has to be a balance between the relationship of magic and psionic, they cannot be mutually exclusive in worlds so rooted in magic use.
My Monk (lvl14) sadly died in a campaign i'm in and the Mystc arrived just in time to join in. It takes a little getting used too, as the Mysitc is by far the most complex and arduous class they have released to date. However, once I got into the flow of it it was a very versatile class, and looking at other Mystic I think its one of the most diverse and customizable classes ever. You can be a battlefield leader (Warlord), if you want to be Psylocke from the marvel universe you can be, nothing seems to be out of its reach.
On the other hand, does this ability to be so customizable detract from playing the other classes, are the other classes now overshadowed by the versatility the Mystic offers? The only way to find out is to make one and play it for yourselves.
Focuses: I found this mechanic quite "unwieldy" constantly keeping track of what you change it too, plus having to give up your bonus action to do it was fairly time consuming and didn't "flow" as well as other classes. I would probably remove the mechanic all together and have something that is tied specifically to your Order.
Well, that's my two cents worth. sorry for the bad grammar and spelling.
Imaculata
Hero
This was always the problem with Psionics in older editions: They introduce a new game mechanic that none of the other game material supports. If you want them to be balanced, you have to some how use existing mechanics.
Psionics == magic, is the easiest solution to this problem. But I can see that one of the main appeals for many players, is the fact that they were different. So, I don't know how you would solve this issue. I guess you could use a different already-existing game mechanic instead, but if so, which one?
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
I'm going to talk about the potential worst offenders of this offering.
Number one: Bypassing the concentration limit.
This is just a non-starter for me. Concentration is a good thing. Reigning in the supernatural side of things is necessary for both balance and to keep the game moving fast. As it stands there are are already far too many exceptions to the rule, and not just trivial spells, but things like Spiritual Weapon which is so good it is considered a staple. Breaking this rule even farther, by allowing not just one more concentration, but as many as you chose to pay for, is absurd. And yes, I am aware that sorcerers can twin a spell, but this overshadows that by every metric except for action economy.
Number two: Stacking
Psionic abilities stack too deep. Both with each other, and with spells.
Here is a quote,
If you are looking at the in house side of things, Bestial Claws, Brute Strike, and Knock Back all stack making a potentially huge burst of damage (and also bypassing the Psi-point limit due to manifesting multiple different times in the same turn). Spellcasters actually have an additional limit on the number of spells they can cast in a turn, if they use a bonus action spell, they have to stick with cantrips.
And I am sure there are people who can think of even more abusive things.
Number one: Bypassing the concentration limit.
This is just a non-starter for me. Concentration is a good thing. Reigning in the supernatural side of things is necessary for both balance and to keep the game moving fast. As it stands there are are already far too many exceptions to the rule, and not just trivial spells, but things like Spiritual Weapon which is so good it is considered a staple. Breaking this rule even farther, by allowing not just one more concentration, but as many as you chose to pay for, is absurd. And yes, I am aware that sorcerers can twin a spell, but this overshadows that by every metric except for action economy.
Number two: Stacking
Psionic abilities stack too deep. Both with each other, and with spells.
Here is a quote,
This means you can benefit from Bless and Strategic Mind at the same time, adding 2d4 to any attack you make. Or Magic Weapon and Augmented Weapon. This is going to send numbers sky high.
If you are looking at the in house side of things, Bestial Claws, Brute Strike, and Knock Back all stack making a potentially huge burst of damage (and also bypassing the Psi-point limit due to manifesting multiple different times in the same turn). Spellcasters actually have an additional limit on the number of spells they can cast in a turn, if they use a bonus action spell, they have to stick with cantrips.
And I am sure there are people who can think of even more abusive things.
Actually, this was the one thing that stuck out at me that I really liked.
In exchange for not getting any spell/discipline power at the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th level... they get to concentrate on several things at once-- all of them at 5th level of power or less. Which... because of the fact they now get to create all these abilities from scratch, allows them to work out beforehand just what kinds of combinations of multiple-concentration effects a character could have going at one time. And even if WotC doesn't do that intensive legwork themselves... I'm fairly certain the UA playerbase and their NDA'd alpha-testers will.
This isn't like giving the existing spellcasting classes the ability to concentrate on multiple spells, because those have a much wider variety of spells to choose from, and 9 entire levels of them. So yes, giving them the ability to concentrate on two at the same time (while also slinging 6th through 9th level spells around) could be difficult. But the Mystic? The one who doesn't get to have high-level power? The multiple concentrations of the small pool of concentratible disciplines can probably be balanced out much more effectively and not overpower the class.
plisnithus8
Adventurer
Does concentration for psionics necessitate a Constitution save like spell concentrations?
Under Mystic Concentration it says:
Concentrating on a discipline follows the same rules as concentrating on a spell.
This rule means you can’t concentrate on a spell and a discipline at the same time, nor can you concentrate on two disciplines at the same time.
It doesn't mention a save necessary but also says it follows same rules as spells.
Would that mean you'd lose Ogre Form Ogre if you took damage and failed a Con 10 save?
That kind of makes the feature and others like it less than desirable.
Under Mystic Concentration it says:
Concentrating on a discipline follows the same rules as concentrating on a spell.
This rule means you can’t concentrate on a spell and a discipline at the same time, nor can you concentrate on two disciplines at the same time.
It doesn't mention a save necessary but also says it follows same rules as spells.
Would that mean you'd lose Ogre Form Ogre if you took damage and failed a Con 10 save?
That kind of makes the feature and others like it less than desirable.
The Psionic Mastery class feature that you get at level 11 DOES allow you to concentrate on more than one discipline provided you only use your Special psi points to do it, you CANNOT do this with your normal pool of Psi points.
zaratan
First Post
I really like the mechanic of psychic focus and the flexibility to change with a bonus action. It isn't OP at all:
- What restrict the use of focus is the number of disciplines you can get, to make Adaptative Body focus useful, you need to take that discipline, and to many builds don't worth one of your few slots, even with that great focus.
-Still need a bonus action to change, and mystic have a billion use for bonus action
-In Adaptative Body case, when you change it, you'll get all effects of hungry, if you engage in a combat and want to change it, you need one bonus action to do that, again, you need to delay another bonus action use. Don't say anything about thirst too.
-Many disciplines with great focus don't have great use for PP, vice versa.
-Don't fit a campaing setting isn't an exclusive problem from mystic. Many other races/classes can be vetoed. I don't like Assess Foe, because I don't want to preset hp for some creatures, but I don't see any problem if they print this, I'll change in my table.
make an exercise, a character concept at lvl 11, with 7 disciplines to choose (5 as Soul Knive), you'll see that you'll only get two or three usefull focus for that build. And you may have abdicated from another useful stuffs for that.
- What restrict the use of focus is the number of disciplines you can get, to make Adaptative Body focus useful, you need to take that discipline, and to many builds don't worth one of your few slots, even with that great focus.
-Still need a bonus action to change, and mystic have a billion use for bonus action
-In Adaptative Body case, when you change it, you'll get all effects of hungry, if you engage in a combat and want to change it, you need one bonus action to do that, again, you need to delay another bonus action use. Don't say anything about thirst too.
-Many disciplines with great focus don't have great use for PP, vice versa.
-Don't fit a campaing setting isn't an exclusive problem from mystic. Many other races/classes can be vetoed. I don't like Assess Foe, because I don't want to preset hp for some creatures, but I don't see any problem if they print this, I'll change in my table.
make an exercise, a character concept at lvl 11, with 7 disciplines to choose (5 as Soul Knive), you'll see that you'll only get two or three usefull focus for that build. And you may have abdicated from another useful stuffs for that.
Warmaster Horus
Explorer
Counterspell wouldn't work because a wizard/sorc casting it would have no clue that a psi 'spell' was being manifested (no V/S/M). It would be good to have a method of utilizing Dispel Magic and the like, though.
plisnithus8
Adventurer
Psionic Investigation (Order of the Awakened):
"You also learn of any events that have occurred within 20 feet of the object within the past hour. The events you perceive unfold from the object’s perspective. You see and hear such events as if you were there, but can’t use other senses."
So are the events unfolding in real time? So my mystic is standing there holding a helmet trying to figure out which passage the orcs went through 5 minutes ago, and it takes 55 minutes to get to that part?
"You also learn of any events that have occurred within 20 feet of the object within the past hour. The events you perceive unfold from the object’s perspective. You see and hear such events as if you were there, but can’t use other senses."
So are the events unfolding in real time? So my mystic is standing there holding a helmet trying to figure out which passage the orcs went through 5 minutes ago, and it takes 55 minutes to get to that part?
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