Hi guys,
I have it in my hands! This must be one of the most asked for books we have yet done, so I imagine there are quite a few people wanting to know what is inside. . .
Though playing an Elven Paladin right now, I have always like Psychic Warrior, and so this could be the book to get me back into them! It kicks off with Character Concepts designed to add more meats and bones to a starting Psychic Warrior, a set of trade offs to add a new dimension to a first level character. For example, we have the Ascetic who is rarely distracted by the world around him, and yet may only eat fresh food, the Devil Child spurned by his home village, the Failed Psion and the Natural Born Killer (no doubt going to be a popular choice!), along with many more. This leads neatly into the Prestige Psychic Warrior, a chapter for more experienced characters. The Double-Weapon Fighter, Mind Sniper, Psychic Predator and Trophy Hunter, to name just a few, will all expand this class to far more than a mere watered down mix of fighter and psion.
Tricks of the Trade is usually my favourite chapter in all the Quintessential books, full of 'cool' things for players to do with their characters - however, as many writers may tell you, it is also one of the hardest to write. Here, we are presented with rules for Hybrid Psychic Combat, using physical contact as a conduit for his mental attacks. Opening the Chakras takes the idea that a Psychic Warrior's body is more than just flesh and blood, being a maze of psychic channels and vortices which can be tapped. The processes involved (excoriation, flaying and flensing) are extremely painful, if not downright dangerous, but for the Psychic Warrior who views his body as little more than a vessel of the mind, all quite sane options (the opinions of others may vary. . . ).
Psychic Warrior Feats is going to be a popular chapter, not least because of the bonus feats the Psychic Warrior gains. These include Battle Trance, Blood Mastery, Divergant Attentioon and Psychic Critical (the last granting the ability to increase threat ranges) among many more. All useful material for both fleshing out your Psychic Warrior, as well as making him far different from the 'standard' and stereo-typed. Tools of the Trade introduces Psionically Active Materials, allowing the Psychic Warrior to craft weapons and amrour out of a variety of materials that will respond to his own body. The image (and artwork!) of crystal weapons and armour just beg to be tried out in a game! Psionic Prosthetics allow entire limbs to be replaced if lost, without becoming reliant on magic-user (just the ticket if you have a low-magic world). Psychoactive Substances are mind-altering drugs by another name, and these will allow the cautious Psychic Warrior to boost his powers and abilities, though few come without a physical price to pay.
Psychic Warrior Powers has well over fifty news powers for the Psychic Warrior class alone.. Just skimming this chapter, there is plenty of new material to experiment with - Stinging Disarm, Psychic Dervish, Wound Silver, Deadly Accuracy, Leverage Shift, Dread Coverage, Muscular Expansion, Reinforce Arrow, Kinetic Conversion and many, many more. All are geared towards combat or life-and-death situations, firmly placing the Psychic
Warrior as a man of action, not contemplation.
Speaking of contemplation though, the next chapter, Weapon Meditations, allows a Psychic Warrior top do just that, focussing his energies within a single weapon and unlocking new potential within himself. By using his weapon as a symbol and meditative focus, he can maximise his effectiveness in a wide range of different circumstances - often far from combat. To others, skills and talents are simply tools to accomplish a task. To a Psychic Warrior, they can become a part of his whole being. Weapon
Meditation can grant access to new skills, or bonuses to existing ones, as well as new abilities no other character could attempt.
The Battle Trance follows next. Requiring the feat of the same name, a Psychic Warrior can now transcend his own limits. Though not an easy thing to enter or maintain, a Battle Trace allows the Psychic Warrior to channel his power points into combat, allowing him to access ever greater levels of ability - the effects of Battle Trance start small but quickly accelerate. For example, in the first round of a Battle Trance, a Psychic Warrior can drain power points from an opponent, or sacrifice a chance to strike for extra defence. By the fifth round of a Battle Trance, the Psychic Warrior can instead increase his number of attacksor actually become one with the Battle Trance, using his body to become raw psionic fuel that is burned away, even as he continues fighting. Needless to say, you need to be a very
powerful Psychic Warrior to both sustain and use a Battle Trance throughout an entire encounter!
Psionic Cannibalism allows a player to add another facet to his Psychic Warrior if he so chooses - the harvesting of psionic organs from defeated enemies in order to tap into a little of their own power. Full rules are given for harvesting, as well as storing organs, ion addition to actually drawing psionic power from them and binding it to the Psychic Warrior.
Fortresses of the Mind is a fun chapter - when a Psychic Warrior has attained high level and has plenty of gold, he can look at creating his own psychic fortress. All sorts of things are possible here, from a simple enchance castle or fort, to a tower of pure crystal. There are plenty of new items to try out, such as the Command Circle, which allows him to view his defences psionically without being exposed to danger, or the Concentration Chamber that allows him to draw upon the energies of lesser psionic allies, greatly fuelling his own powers. It may normally be the Fighter in the party who plans the castle down to the minutist detail - now,
the Psychic Warrior will have plenty to say about its construction.
The companion to this book, of course, is the Quintessential Psion,
available in three months time, but this tome alone greatly expands the use of psionics in the game. In a way, I am glad we picked the Psychic Warrior to be published first, as this is often the 'poor man's' class for psionics. Well, not any longer - there are so many new dimensions added to the class with this book that I think it will be my first choice of character for a little while. . .
I have it in my hands! This must be one of the most asked for books we have yet done, so I imagine there are quite a few people wanting to know what is inside. . .
Though playing an Elven Paladin right now, I have always like Psychic Warrior, and so this could be the book to get me back into them! It kicks off with Character Concepts designed to add more meats and bones to a starting Psychic Warrior, a set of trade offs to add a new dimension to a first level character. For example, we have the Ascetic who is rarely distracted by the world around him, and yet may only eat fresh food, the Devil Child spurned by his home village, the Failed Psion and the Natural Born Killer (no doubt going to be a popular choice!), along with many more. This leads neatly into the Prestige Psychic Warrior, a chapter for more experienced characters. The Double-Weapon Fighter, Mind Sniper, Psychic Predator and Trophy Hunter, to name just a few, will all expand this class to far more than a mere watered down mix of fighter and psion.
Tricks of the Trade is usually my favourite chapter in all the Quintessential books, full of 'cool' things for players to do with their characters - however, as many writers may tell you, it is also one of the hardest to write. Here, we are presented with rules for Hybrid Psychic Combat, using physical contact as a conduit for his mental attacks. Opening the Chakras takes the idea that a Psychic Warrior's body is more than just flesh and blood, being a maze of psychic channels and vortices which can be tapped. The processes involved (excoriation, flaying and flensing) are extremely painful, if not downright dangerous, but for the Psychic Warrior who views his body as little more than a vessel of the mind, all quite sane options (the opinions of others may vary. . . ).
Psychic Warrior Feats is going to be a popular chapter, not least because of the bonus feats the Psychic Warrior gains. These include Battle Trance, Blood Mastery, Divergant Attentioon and Psychic Critical (the last granting the ability to increase threat ranges) among many more. All useful material for both fleshing out your Psychic Warrior, as well as making him far different from the 'standard' and stereo-typed. Tools of the Trade introduces Psionically Active Materials, allowing the Psychic Warrior to craft weapons and amrour out of a variety of materials that will respond to his own body. The image (and artwork!) of crystal weapons and armour just beg to be tried out in a game! Psionic Prosthetics allow entire limbs to be replaced if lost, without becoming reliant on magic-user (just the ticket if you have a low-magic world). Psychoactive Substances are mind-altering drugs by another name, and these will allow the cautious Psychic Warrior to boost his powers and abilities, though few come without a physical price to pay.
Psychic Warrior Powers has well over fifty news powers for the Psychic Warrior class alone.. Just skimming this chapter, there is plenty of new material to experiment with - Stinging Disarm, Psychic Dervish, Wound Silver, Deadly Accuracy, Leverage Shift, Dread Coverage, Muscular Expansion, Reinforce Arrow, Kinetic Conversion and many, many more. All are geared towards combat or life-and-death situations, firmly placing the Psychic
Warrior as a man of action, not contemplation.
Speaking of contemplation though, the next chapter, Weapon Meditations, allows a Psychic Warrior top do just that, focussing his energies within a single weapon and unlocking new potential within himself. By using his weapon as a symbol and meditative focus, he can maximise his effectiveness in a wide range of different circumstances - often far from combat. To others, skills and talents are simply tools to accomplish a task. To a Psychic Warrior, they can become a part of his whole being. Weapon
Meditation can grant access to new skills, or bonuses to existing ones, as well as new abilities no other character could attempt.
The Battle Trance follows next. Requiring the feat of the same name, a Psychic Warrior can now transcend his own limits. Though not an easy thing to enter or maintain, a Battle Trace allows the Psychic Warrior to channel his power points into combat, allowing him to access ever greater levels of ability - the effects of Battle Trance start small but quickly accelerate. For example, in the first round of a Battle Trance, a Psychic Warrior can drain power points from an opponent, or sacrifice a chance to strike for extra defence. By the fifth round of a Battle Trance, the Psychic Warrior can instead increase his number of attacksor actually become one with the Battle Trance, using his body to become raw psionic fuel that is burned away, even as he continues fighting. Needless to say, you need to be a very
powerful Psychic Warrior to both sustain and use a Battle Trance throughout an entire encounter!
Psionic Cannibalism allows a player to add another facet to his Psychic Warrior if he so chooses - the harvesting of psionic organs from defeated enemies in order to tap into a little of their own power. Full rules are given for harvesting, as well as storing organs, ion addition to actually drawing psionic power from them and binding it to the Psychic Warrior.
Fortresses of the Mind is a fun chapter - when a Psychic Warrior has attained high level and has plenty of gold, he can look at creating his own psychic fortress. All sorts of things are possible here, from a simple enchance castle or fort, to a tower of pure crystal. There are plenty of new items to try out, such as the Command Circle, which allows him to view his defences psionically without being exposed to danger, or the Concentration Chamber that allows him to draw upon the energies of lesser psionic allies, greatly fuelling his own powers. It may normally be the Fighter in the party who plans the castle down to the minutist detail - now,
the Psychic Warrior will have plenty to say about its construction.
The companion to this book, of course, is the Quintessential Psion,
available in three months time, but this tome alone greatly expands the use of psionics in the game. In a way, I am glad we picked the Psychic Warrior to be published first, as this is often the 'poor man's' class for psionics. Well, not any longer - there are so many new dimensions added to the class with this book that I think it will be my first choice of character for a little while. . .
