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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercule" data-source="post: 7673588" data-attributes="member: 5100">So... psions aren't mortal? If so, they still tap into the same source."The Weave" is one of the things I hate about the Realms. I despise that the word "Weave" is even found in the PHB. It's entirely too setting-specific.Arcane magic deals with science-like laws of how to manipulate, well, magic. Depending on the setting, this could be an Enochian "language of creation", manipulation of ambient energy (a.k.a. Weave), or even forcing various entities (read: deities, vestiges, etc.) to do your bidding via loopholes in their service agreement.Gods don't (always) play by the same rules. Depending on the setting, they might use the ambient energy, but they could also simply be near omnipotent, capable of manipulating the mental energy of their faithful, pull their power from a greater source (per BECMI Immortal rules), or just be tremendous batteries of power. Clerics get their power by proxy as the gods grant quantified powers. Using the same rules as the Wizard is a mechanical convenience everywhere outside of the Realms.Psionics is somehow internally powered; that "somehow" is the rub. This could be people keyed to the "friction" between different realities (Far Realms), tainted by magical "fallout", capable of directly manipulating the ambient "Weave", or even showing the first signs that humanity has the same divine spark as the gods.The setting determines how psionics fit. If I were to run a Realms game that included psionics, I can't imagine any other flavor than to say the psion is manipulating the Weave without need of formal spells, regardless of mechanics. Maybe "Mystara's Chosen" is just a cute name for psions.When I run Eberron, it's mostly just seen as another form of magic. What little deeper thought is given would be mostly along the lines of it being a world where demons are literally buried in the ground, people manifest magic tattoos, and unprovable gods grant spells to clerics who act against their doctrine. How can you stress about some folks who learn to do magic by shear willpower, rather than knowledge?In my home brew, psionics are generally the result of over-exposure to magic -- daddy had an artifact, mommy lived near the tower of a mad mage, etc. They are occasionally seen as secondary reflections of humanity's ability to ascend to godhood (which is rare, but possible). The fact that elves are wholly incapable of ever manifesting psionics and are also known to be a race of (minor) angels that forsook their divine spark to live among the mortal races only adds fuel to the fire.I still can't see anywhere near as much justification for fluff saying "psionics is different" as for saying "divine channeling is different". You could throw psions on either side of the line, but they have a lot more in common with either arcane or divine magic than the two do with each other.</blockquote>

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