Unearthed Arcana New Unearthed Arcana: Psionics!

There’s a new Unearthed Arcana article out, and it’s all about psionics! "Their minds bristling with power, three new subclasses arrive in today’s Unearthed Arcana: the Psychic Warrior for the fighter, the Soulknife for the rogue, and the tradition of Psionics for the wizard."

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In this 9-page PDF, there are also some new psionics-themed spells (including versions of classic psionic powers like id insinuation and ego whip) and two new feats.

 

[Weiley31]

It feels VERY weird that Soulknife was made into a Rogue subclass. A Monk subclass made more sense. Especially since the Kalashtar seem like a perfect fit for a Soulknife. And they are big on martial arts.

You could reflavor the Ki points as "Psi Points," and the Mindblade itself would count as a Monk weapon. Heck Monk abilities could be retextured as the powers. Also the Mindblade needs some scaling or something to let ya upgrade that bad boy to +1/2/3. If your a Soulknife, that's your main weapon, not a longsword/dagger.

Also, it should be a 1D8 as a single blade, and a 1D6 when so into two blades.

*Laughs at the cloaking Mage Hand for Psychic Warriors.

 

[Shardstone]

I think a Psion that is a full-caster take on the Monk would be such an interesting and fun class to play.

 

[Sacrosanct]

As Crawford explains below, the fighter was meant to emulate Darth Vader

 

[PMárk]

Once again, the 5e design philosophy is not for my tastes. I like psionics being full their own thing instead of just subclasses that adds some tricks to a class.

Ah well, we're playing 3.5 anyway.

 

[Sacrosanct]

As an aside from reading many of the comments, I think it's important to remember the context of these. These are subclasses, so they need to be comparable to other subclasses. Expecting it to do way more, or have a lot more features, than other subclasses isn't a fair assessment.

 

[Raunalyn]

As an aside from reading many of the comments, I think it's important to remember the context of these. These are subclasses, so they need to be comparable to other subclasses. Expecting it to do way more, or have a lot more features, than other subclasses isn't a fair assessment.

Agreed. But with that being said, and with the exception of the Soul Knife, these subclasses are far outshined by their counterparts. Sub-classes should at least be comparable.

At least the spells are interesting.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Also, Crawford explains why it's not a stand alone class (and why it probably won't be), and why the mechanics are core 5e rather than new stuff. He comes right out and says that when previous editions did that in the past, while fun, hardly anyone used them. So they want options that more people will use, and not have to buy a new book and learn an entire new rules system.

Agree or not, there you have it.

 

[Shardstone]

As an aside from reading many of the comments, I think it's important to remember the context of these. These are subclasses, so they need to be comparable to other subclasses. Expecting it to do way more, or have a lot more features, than other subclasses isn't a fair assessment.

You're right.

But that's not the entirety of the arguments.

Psionic Warrior is boring. The only thing psionic about it is the damage types that it does.

Soulknife is great. This is good.

Psionist looks like a replacement for Psion. Thoughtform is great. But this doesn't feel like a wizard either. You become a Force Ghost and a half-psion which is just odd.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Agreed. But with that being said, and with the exception of the Soul Knife, these subclasses are far outshined by their counterparts. Sub-classes should at least be comparable.

At least the spells are interesting.

I gotta say I disagree. These subclasses seem more potent, in some cases. the warrior sure seems more potent than the PDK, or even champion fighter. And the wizard tradition seems just as good if not better than half the current traditions.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Don't go 'round tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a Dark Sun on the rise.

Or maybe not, but it seemed a reasonably likely setting to get some love anyway and psionics are the main place where the necessary mechanical support is missing.