Need help creating an 8th level psionicist

[MadWand]

Hi. I've been a longtime lurker on these boards, but now I find I could use some help. I've been invited to play an 8th level character in a new game. The character should be primarily a psionicist. The problem is, I've never played psions before and I have no idea what an effective pisonicist might be like.
Here are the rolls I made:
12 17 17 15 14 13
What I know about the campaign:
It is psionics-heavy, as we are testing out the psionics rules
It is combat-heavy
There will probably be very little dungeon-crawling
The group so far consists of a psionic warror (the tank), a monk, and a rouge (the archer)
Filling an "artillery" function in the group would be helpful
Prestige classes are allowed

I would like to create a character that is powerful, fun to play, competent, and versatile. I do not want to create a "smackdown", or abuse the rules -- the DM would just say "no", as he should. I get standard starting GP for 8th level, and may spend it as I please (although I assume gross spending strangeness would be frowned on)

Can anyone out there experienced with playing psionicists make some reccommendations as to a good type of psionicist to play?

 

[Dougal DeKree]

Artillery

Hi!

If you want an artillery, go and play a sorceror. Much easier to get spells that make things go boom. If you play by the standard-rules, you will be after every single power point during the first couple of levels.
About Psios: I played a Telepath last time i played a Psio and it was fun pretty much. IF you care about playing subtle, that is. AND he was pretty powerful after a while, especially with the chain-spell feat used with charm person (the main advantage is that you roll your dc with a d20 here...can be BIIIG bonus, can be not ) So, if i were you, i would choose Cha and Dex for the 17's, 15 for Int 14 for Con 13 for Wis and 12 for Str (man, how did you roll those stats?!?!). Or perhaps even start out as Monk and then go Psio on 2nd lvl switching int and wis-stats.

Hope that helps.

Dougal DeKree, retired Gnomish Illusionist.

 

[MadWand]

I would play a sorcerer if I could, they are good at making things go boom, as you say The GM has specifically asked me to play a psionicist though. Fortunately I won't have to play through the lower levels, I start right at 8th level.

So are psionicists poor in the artillery role? If so I may have to abandon that, and just go for whatever psions normally do... whatever that is! I'd rather not rely on charm person too much... as a mage, I've cast charm person a dozen times or so with different characters. I can count on the fingers of one foot the number of times I've been successful in those attempts.

As for the stats... yeah, I was lucky. Best I've ever rolled, and in front of the GM too. I hope he lets me keep them. So much for "don't roll those dice, they suck"

 

[Dougal DeKree]

8th lvl

Ok, a Psionic won't be as good as a sorc, but he still can have spells with area-damage. Nice is Whitefire, does 5d4 and has long range. Also nice is sever the tie, which does a lot damage to undead and ONLY to undead inside a given area. both are linked o con i think, but i am not sure. The point is, will you rather be doing closer combat/manifesting, or from a range? If closer, i would propose you take Monk at 1st lvl, then Psionic and get all those mean powers which improve unarmed damage and close-combat effects, like the various cones there are. like stomp, making opponents fall down (and if used on cavalry... ). remember, this gives AoO AND they lose their dex, which means sneaks for you rogue (or you, if you take a lvl of roge instead of the lvl of monk, BUT that would mean you loose evasion...could take 2 lvl's of rogue though). The best combat mode for you will be the most expensive one, Mindblst. Cha is the stat and it is a real killer costing 9PP. Always remember, with a feat enlarging the range of a power, areas get MUCH bigger (quadruple AREA).
Your problem will be that most of the damage-powers tend to affect only one target at a time.
The powers i liked most were spiderclimb, skate, sever the tie (played in an undead-heavy campaign), charm monster (max size huge, not large as in the normal spell...can charm a dragon, i had a DC of d20+11 with my telepath at 8th lvl without buffing) and inflict pain (of course). But better check out the powers yourself.

Dougal DeKree, retired gnomish Illusionist

 

[Plane Sailing]

I would recommend playing a Savant, because then you get to use 17 Con (raised to 18 at 4th level) for extra power points and the all important hit point bonus - at 8th level that is worth 32 hit points and gives you the same average as a standard stat barbarian (6.5 hp per die). It is probably even worth putting your 8th level point there for 19 CON, to get the best possible result from animal affinity (see below)

I would be inclined to put the 14 in Str, because there are some very useful powers in psychometabolism.

IMO "must-have" powers include:

Animal Affinity (2nd level psychometabolism). Add +2-5 to your Con and your DC's go up, your hit points go up, your Fort saves go up. All goodness.

Lesser Body adjustment (because you don't want to have to rely on the cleric)

Inkling is a great talent, and you will get 11 uses of talents per day.

savant powers which are great:

Concussion is a useful attack power, sever the tie, negate power (since dispel magic is extremely useful against buffed foes). Inertial Barrier as your 4th level power is pretty cool. Who couldn't use 10 points DR, eh?

If you are going to be in an artillary role, you might find it worth while to get "trigger power" for your main attack - if it is Concussion or Burning Ray your Con check will give you a better than 50% chance of getting them for free, so you can throw lots of them! (You did remember to give yourself animal affinity, yes?)

Extend power is another useful feat - since at +2pp you could double extend your animal affinity (total cost 7pp - just inside your limit) and have animal affinity (Con) which lasts for 8x3 = 24 hours - which is enough to give you extra bonus PPs

Pick a selection of attack powers, so that you have one which is ranged touch, one which is Fort saves, one which is Will saves and one which is Refl saves if possible - to give you variety for attacking the weak areas of different creatures.


I could go on - but I think the desire for artilliary-like powers and survivability in a combat heavy game all point towards the Savant as being the best choice. Good hit points, good protective powers, pretty good single-target blasts.


Cheers

 

[Dougal DeKree]

Agree...

Hmm, i gotta agree with Plane Sailing. Savant is cool and then there is the mass concussion power, too

Dougal DeKree, reitred Gnomish Illusionist

 

[MadWand]

This is great advice, thank you. The Savant does seem like a good choice. A few feats have been mentioned -- trigger power, extend power. What other feats make good choices?

And what about things like magic items? Would an item that raised Con work with animal affinity? What other items proove useful to a psionicist? I've got 27,000 gp to spend, and I know how I'd spend it on a wizard, but I don't know what items a psionicists would want.

Are there any fun prestige classes to take? The ones in the psionics handbook seem only "ok".

 

[MadWand]

bump

So does no one play psions much? They do seem kind of weak...

 

[Laslo Tremaine]

Check to see if your DM will let you use Bruce Cordell's revised Psion class from "If Thoughts Could Kill" (available in pdf form from www.montecook.com). It really makes the Psion a much more balanced class with scalable powers and secondary disciplines. And, it's a revision done by the author of the Psionics Handbook, so most people find it pretty acceptable.

Also try and get a Torc of Psionic Might. It's pretty pricey (10,000gp) but it reduces the cost of every psion by one point (to a minimum of 1 pt) so it can really stretch out your Psion's capabilities.

Also, since it looks like your party will not have a cleric, you might want to looks at the "Empathic Transfer" psion. It lets you transfer other people's damage to yourself, which you can then use "Lesser Body Adjustment" to heal yourself. It won't help much in combat, but inbetween it can get your party back up and running.

Another keen feet is "Master Dorje" It lets you cast psions from a Dorje (the psionic equivilent of a wand) for 2 power points over the base manifestation cost, without using a charge from the dorje. That would let you round out your selection of psions and with the power points that you are saving with your Torc, you should have plenty to use with this Feat.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[MadWand]

Ok, here are my ideas so far:

Talents:
Detect Psionic
Inkling
D: Far hand
Valor
Burst

Level 1:
Stomp
Lesser body adjustment
Empathic Transfer
Vigor

Level 2:
Invisibility
Animal affinity
Ectoplasmic Cocoon

Level 3:
Fly
Greater Concussion

Level 4:
Intertial barrier

Feats:
Leadership
Extend power
Improved initiative

Items:
Torc of psionic might: 10K

Any comments? Changes? additions?
I figure a dwarf would make a good Savant.Having Mind Blast should take care of the need for a willl-save effect, I hope. I should be able to get Charm Monster later.