D&D 5E Mystic Advice?

[Werebat]

What advice would those of you who are experienced with DMing with one or more Mystics in the party have for DMs who are considering allowing one for the first time? I am talking about the most recent iteration of the 5e Mystic in UA.

Any things to disallow, watch out for, or be wary/aware of? I know that historically, new psionics systems have led to potentially game-breaking issues, even if only because players can be over-zealous about what their characters can do while DMs new to the material might not be aware of important rules details that might make some things impossible.

For example, my son was running a game I dropped in on and witnessed a 1st level Mystic dropping down a Wall of Wood. It seemed crazy powerful at level 1, and I browsed the rules long enough to notice that there was a limit on how many "power points" could be spent per round, based on level, that meant this trick was actually impossible at level 1.

Anything else like that? Would you allow the Mystic in your own game? I am starting a new game and was thinking of using my own homebrewed psionics system that used the sorcerer as a base, but as I read the Mystic I find that I kind of like it.

 

[iserith]

I had experience with a mystic in my last campaign. While I didn't have any issue with the mystic's power level (I got infinite dragons, after all), what I found troublesome was how the mystic could do basically anything anyone else could do which causes spotlight issues. So that would be something to be on the lookout for as you consider their inclusion or manage spotlight during play.

 

[Werebat]

I was thinking along the lines of “gotcha!” moves (“Want Uber combo X? Ask your DM if he’ll allow Y and Z — if he says yes, you’re IN!!!”), or just unbalanced but illegal things “overzealous” players might “not notice” won’t actually work according to the rules.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Wall of Wood isn't supposed to be usable until 3rd level, since it requires 3 Psi points. However, the 100 hp per section seems a bit high for what should be a 2nd level spell equivalent. I would probably nerf it to about 25, enough to slow the angry orc for a couple of rounds, but not enough for the party to get clean away.

 

[Blue]

My comments from a read-thru are the same as [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION] - it looks like it can cover a lot of different roles so I'd have a conversation with the group ahead of time just so the player knows it's cool to have your own niche and it's cool to back up other players, but it's not cool to step on the toes of multiple other characters.

The flip side is it also looks easy to pick abilities that don't support each other and not carrying your weight. Make sure the player thinks about that as well. Making a sub-optimal character on purpose is one thing, doing it accidentally while trying to be competent is another.

BTW, Wizards officially moved Mystic to DMsGuild. I know there's a version there, I don't know if it's had any changes since the last UA version 3 article.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The DMsGuild version is the same as the last UA version.

I have to say some of these things don't really show until you actually try playing them. I introduced the other prototype class - Artificer - into a game as a temporary substitute character, and found it to out-utility the rogue, whilst, at the same time, being rather boring to play. I'm not inclined to allow it on a permanent basis.

The thing the mystic does enable which seems to be a bit lacking in existing classes is body morphing - sprout wings to fly, gills to breath under water, make your arms extra long, that sort of thing.