Unearthed Arcana New Psion update, Dungeons and Dragons Unearthed Arcana

WotC updates the psion in new playtest document.
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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.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer

If my memory doesn't fail the "Athaspace" was in an alternate material plane. The no-canon lore told around the "Athaspace" there was a "Black Gulf", a zone of total darkness with unknown horrors. The travel is possible but too dangerous for trade, and even if the travelers could survive the spelljammer would be too damaged to get ready soon for a return-travel. That "black gulf" could be the Athasian version of the Far Realm.

The flumphs are "aliens" but good creatures.

I am too used to imagine psions like people who train their minds to achieve enlightenment to think now they are only "tainted by the far realm". I would rather to believe the psionic forces are the cosmic countermeasures against the tainted influence of the Far Realm.
 

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As to Dark Sun, you realize the class is most likely being designed FOR Dark Sun, right? Dark Sun psionics is based much more heavily on the sci-fi pulp fiction style of psionics, Dune being a great example. It doesn't fit the whole Far Realm connection (does Athas even touch the Far Realm? Does it have mind flayers? Legit question).
It's funny. The whole reason for "It's not magic, it's psionics!" is John W. Campbell. As the powerful editor of Astounding magazine, he set the standard for a lot of science fiction from the 30's to the 50's. And one of his bugaboos was that he hated magic but genuinely believed in the existence of psychic powers.

So a lot of writers submitting to him leaned on a specific trope. A backward society who think they're using "magic", but the scientifically educated main character can correctly identify it as crudely applied psionic abilities. (And most of the time, due to this awareness and education they quickly master it better than the locals.) This let the writers do their stories of witches and wizards, but dressed up in the science fiction trapping that Campbell demanded.

That's the lineage that D&D psionics comes from. So no, it's technically not magic, but also it was always really just magic. And that's especially true for Dark Sun, which is using a lot of other pulp tropes about a dying future Earth or ancient Mars fallen to ruin.
 


I tend to go with what Aleister Crowley said when defining magic, in that "Any act, if in accordance with the will, is an act of magic."

So something like Psionics certainly does fall within magic based on something like that. Though based on that quote, one could argue that doing something completely mundane, like getting out of bed with ones will, also is an act of magic too.
 

One thing I liked from one of the old UAs on the Mystic was that one of the disciplines had a bunch of abilities that required a Charisma Save to avoid a bunch of psychic damage. I certainly feel that the number of new spells should be at least twice as much as what's presented in that current UA.

They should throw in a few spells that use something like a psionic presence or dimensional scrambling to be something that requires a Charisma Save to resist. They'd probably be Warlock spells too.
 

I tend to go with what Aleister Crowley said when defining magic, in that "Any act, if in accordance with the will, is an act of magic."

So something like Psionics certainly does fall within magic based on something like that. Though based on that quote, one could argue that doing something completely mundane, like getting out of bed with ones will, also is an act of magic too.
Does this make Crowley suicidal because he couldn't will himself to immortality?
 

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But if we take away the spookiness and pretend the creepiness isn't there then what flavour exactly is left? It's just bland generic superpowers that don't tie to anything; there's less flavour left than in your average sorcerer unless you add something beyond "mind mage who can ignore some of the limitations on normal mages".
Disagree.

Spock wasn't "spooky".

You could use psi/tech flavor as an angle, or monastic meditation, jedi, or even firestarter (okay kinda spooky but not far realm spooky).

Just like fighters can be any flavor or background, psions at the base can be many concepts.
 

It's funny. The whole reason for "It's not magic, it's psionics!" is John W. Campbell. As the powerful editor of Astounding magazine, he set the standard for a lot of science fiction from the 30's to the 50's. And one of his bugaboos was that he hated magic but genuinely believed in the existence of psychic powers.

So a lot of writers submitting to him leaned on a specific trope. A backward society who think they're using "magic", but the scientifically educated main character can correctly identify it as crudely applied psionic abilities. (And most of the time, due to this awareness and education they quickly master it better than the locals.) This let the writers do their stories of witches and wizards, but dressed up in the science fiction trapping that Campbell demanded.

That's the lineage that D&D psionics comes from. So no, it's technically not magic, but also it was always really just magic. And that's especially true for Dark Sun, which is using a lot of other pulp tropes about a dying future Earth or ancient Mars fallen to ruin.
And I love it! Especially the bolded part.
 

Disagree.

Spock wasn't "spooky".

You could use psi/tech flavor as an angle, or monastic meditation, jedi, or even firestarter (okay kinda spooky but not far realm spooky).

Just like fighters can be any flavor or background, psions at the base can be many concepts.
Spock was neither terribly spooky nor a psion. He wasn't all about the psionics with it being his primary thing. So it wasn't his class; he used his psionics what? Every ten episodes or so.

That's at best feat level. Not even subclass level; he wasn't remotely on the psionic level of a soulknife.

Meanwhile when they had a strong long distance psychic character whose contribution was in part centered around her mental abilities? In order to make her not spooky they made it explicit that she couldn't read minds.
 


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