Unearthed Arcana New Psion update, Dungeons and Dragons Unearthed Arcana

A new Unearthed Arcana is up, featuring a revised version of the Psion class. Per a D&D Beyond article, the Psion has seen considerable changes. Feedback for the class focused into three main areas - Psionic Energy Dice, Psionic Modes, and Spellcasting. Psionic Energy Dice are now more flexible and easier to obtain - a new feature called Psionic Reserves allows players to regain uses of Psionic Energy Dice and Telepathic Propel and Telepathic Connection allow players to use those abilities one time each without expending energy dice. Meanwhile, Psionic Modes has been cut from the class, with various aspects of the ability being incorporated into various subclasses as new features. Finally, the Psion now has an updated and expanded spelllist. The UA also contains seven brand new spells and updated versions of existing spells as well.

Additionally, the Metamorph, Psykinetic, and Telepath have all received updates. The Metamorph's abilities now often feature a roll of the Psionic Energy Die while they're being expended. The Psykinetic gains a Stronger Telekinesis feature with an improved Mage Hand spell use. Also, players can now use Telekinetic Propel without expending a Psionic Energy Dice. Finally, the Telepath has a new Telepathic Distraction feature that lets you interfere with another creature's attack roll if it's within range of your telepathy. Scramble Minds was redesigned to reduce the number of dice rolls needed to keep combat from getting bogged down.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Anyone using Bastions? That was 5E24's "experimental" rule system that WotC had never done before.

If anyone says they need WotC to be experimental but doesn't actually use the one thing that could satisfy their needs for experiment is a pretty good indication why one's demand for "experimental" design can be ignored. Because odds-are that any other "experimental" thing WotC makes will be another one you'd not use either. Wanting something "experimental" for the sake of it being "experimental" is a pointless request.

What any of you actually want is just a ruleset that you yourself want to use (experimental or no). But WotC cannot design for that because they have no idea whatsoever of whatever sort of whackadoo thing every single individual would find useable. I mean take a look over in the non-spellcaster psion thread (in addition to every other psion, warlord, and arcane half-caster thread ever made over these last 11 years)... all kinds of people just throwing random ideas they think they might like but none of which has a definitive design concept. And if someone ever did come up with a definitive design concept, no one would use it. You know how I know? Because we have countless Psions, Warlords, and Arcane Half-Casters up and down DMs Guild and across the internet fully designed by all of you kinds of folks who are throwing out your ideas of what you might want... these designs fully-made, fully-written, ready to be put on the table and played... and none of you are using them.

So if you can't even like these 3rd Party designs that go in the types of experimental directions you want... what makes any of you think that WotC could somehow by the grace of god come up with another Psion design in addition to the multiples times they've done them for 5E and you would actually LIKE the result? Most likely what will happen is exactly what has happened with everyone who kept yelling and crying "We need Planesape!" We need Dragonlance!" "We need Spelljammer!" WotC'll eventually give it to you, and you'll come back with "Well, yeah we wanted it... but not like THAT!"

And I bet that'd be your precise reactions even if WotC somehow ever created a non-spellcasting Psion too. So why should WotC bother?

 

[EzekielRaiden]

We'll only get the really good stuff when they start ramping for 6e

My frank view is: they just won't publish anything at all at that point, or they entirely fob it off on third parties who have to play it safe because risky means too few sales. They were content to let 4e die on the vine for something like a year before the new-edition playtests began. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they did exactly the same thing with 5e, especially because of the glacially slow release schedule.

I also believe that the glacial schedule contributed...but that it did not need to be glacially slow in order to reap that benefit. I'm pretty confident, in fact, that they could have doubled the rate at which they released content, and it would have still lasted about as long. That's probably one of the nicest, no-caveats things you'll ever hear me say about 5th Edition, actually.