New PH3 Class....The Psion!

[xstevebob42]

Conspiracy Theory: It's an anti-piracy measure so that people can't just download the PDF and have the material. Of course, like most anti-piracy measures, it just ends up being a righteous hassle for legitimate customers -- I can't print this out, I can't send this to a player or a DM who might want to use it, I can't copy this to my thumb drive and browse it at work...this is supremely onerous to me.
[/sblock]

I agree with your theory and it's conclusion. It certainly creates large hassle for legitimate consumers.

 

[Flobby]

Implements?

Could anyone tell me what their implements are? I think someone mentioned orbs... any new ones?

Thanks

 

[ryryguy]

The other implement is staff.

No new implements. There's a sidebar comment that they considered a new one (circlet), but decided it wasn't worth it. Basically adding a new implement means they also need to add enough new items to support it, and there was no mechanical reason to add it.

 

[Flobby]

Magic?

Oh one more question! Is psionics magic? Did they add a psionics skill? (okay that's two questions...)


Thanks

 

[Kez Darksun]

Add me to the list of customers annoyed by the format change. I love having the commentary but I would much rather see that in a second article and have the class in the standard format so I do not have to waste even more time copy/pasting the class into word so I can print out a copy to read away from my computer at my leisure without wasting ink on art.

 

[Trolls]

Oh one more question! Is psionics magic? Did they add a psionics skill? (okay that's two questions...)


Thanks

Psionics is magic. Complete transparency.

So no Psionics skill, it's covered by Arcana.

 

[gribble]

Or multiclassing a psionic character. What exactly do you need to do to retrain an encounter power? Just give up the power points? Also sacrifice the At-Will retrain option?

Probably something like giving up an encounter power from your primary class for a Psion at-will + 2 power points (or maybe the max augment value in power points for the at-will). Alternatively you can give up an at-will from another psionic class + 2 power points (or max augment value in PP again) instead of an encounter power from a non-psionic class.

Paragon MC will probably just be a straight at-will for at-will swap, along with a feat which provides additional power points for paragon MCers.

Makes sense to me anyway... although the new mechanics certainly do make some parts of the system a bit messy!

 

[Piratecat]

Psionics is really magic; according to the character builder, being a psion qualifies you for wizard paragon paths. A little odd.

 

[Flobby]

Psionics is really magic; according to the character builder, being a psion qualifies you for wizard paragon paths. A little odd.

That is odd. Wasn't psionics originally magic in 3E only to be changed to something different cause no one liked the idea of magic/psionics transparency?
Or did I imagine that?

 

[Leatherhead]

I am going to be the voice of discontent.

I do not like power points. I honestly hoped that in 4E the psionic classes were finally going to be uniform with everyone else. Their usage of unique mechanics has been a big part of the reason they have been historically shunned at large. And I was never fond of power/mana points in the first place.

I also don't like classes that break the mold. D&D finally has a much-needed standardized system for class powers and features. It helps quite a bit when helping people to learn the game, if everyone uses basically the same rules.
Having multiple different subsystems was one of the things that caused older editions to seem monstrous and unapproachable to outsiders, with hauling around a library in order to reference them. It was also time consuming as a DM trying to keep on top of all the different mechanics new classes had (I wouldn't let a person use something unless I understood how it worked).

At a glance, it seems the psion has less powers, but more options than the other classes, with the additional bonus of using the same "encounter" option repeatedly. That sends up warning flags for me. I feel there is no real need for such a radical departure from he other classes. There is still lots of room to create new classes with different flavors, without having to change up the current format.