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.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't think a Legend & Lore ever said "5e will be the Big Tent edition - check your dictionaries for what we really mean!"

Probably not, but words have meaning. And by the definition, this is what a big tent looks like.

 

[Ashrym]

Eberron can work with psionic abilities and doesn't require full-on psionic classes for the same level of flavor the campaign runs. Darksun emphasizes psionics more but I don't think it actually requires a full psionic class.

The difference is I would like a stand alone psionic class with the 6 disciplines as subclasses. That doesn't mean I'll get it, unfortunately, but being honest I would have to admit I didn't play them much at all anyway. I liked the concept and played them once in a while, but they were certainly not a priority. Most campaigns prioritize classic fantasy tropes.

Regarding the invisible psychic power my response is this:

Not so much.

Glowing eyes, pointing with a look of concentration and / or hand gestures, or flat out visible energy are common in the psionic tropes. That's something that depends on which characters from whom a person is taking inspiration and what powers are actually being used. The change in eye color or glowing eyes is rather common regardless.

RPGs are a niche product.

RPG's cannot possibly be a niche within the context to D&D, lol; D&D is a smaller part of that greater whole. D&D is also not niche within RPG's. D&D is the greater whole by which we're comparing aspects within D&D. Psionics is a niche within that greater whole.

Niche is a relative term.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Niche is a relative term.

It's niche within the mainstream of the niche that's very niche compared to the actual mainstream.

You're right, that's pretty niche.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

The big tent is all about threading the needle, not catering niche products to every niche of the hobby. The days of "everyone gets a tailored book" are gone. They aren't coming back.

Honest questions.

1. Does it have to be all or nothing? Couldn't a niche subject be included in an otherwise generically useful book?

2. Did more players want a fully fleshed out Firbolg or Tabaxi or demonic vehicle battles than a psion? If not why create them since niche isn't the way to take 5e?

3. If 5e had such limited development resources at it's disposal then how does Rick and Morty adventures, Acquisitions Inc subsystems, and Stranger Things box sets expand the game for the Day 1 player?

4. As an extension of 3, what percentage of official books in 5e are "generically useful" meaning that most of the included content can fit into any campaign. By my count that is 6 books (the big 3, the two extra monster books, and Xanathars). Aren't non-generically-useful books more niche than those that are? Why are they so rare in the release schedule?

 

[Azzy]

The 43 class variants, to me, was one of the best UA's in years. I liked that they were looking at new ways to use the 5E rules to create more customization for characters. I hope they continue with that line of thought.

I certainly asked them to in the survey.

 

[Hussar]

Apologies for breaking this up piecemeal, but, you have a few different issues here.

Honest questions.

1. Does it have to be all or nothing? Couldn't a niche subject be included in an otherwise generically useful book?

Of course. That's generally what's being done. We get new monsters, classes, rules in modules right now. Ghosts of Saltmarsh includes naval rules for example.

2. Did more players want a fully fleshed out Firbolg or Tabaxi or demonic vehicle battles than a psion? If not why create them since niche isn't the way to take 5e?

Well, there is the case of scale here. A single page for a Firbolg or Tabaxi using existing mechanics is hardly the same as a 300 page rulebook for psionics.

3. If 5e had such limited development resources at it's disposal then how does Rick and Morty adventures, Acquisitions Inc subsystems, and Stranger Things box sets expand the game for the Day 1 player?

Note, none of those are developed in house and all of them are licensed out. I think. I could be wrong there. But, like the early 5e modules, the work isn't being done in house.

4. As an extension of 3, what percentage of official books in 5e are "generically useful" meaning that most of the included content can fit into any campaign. By my count that is 6 books (the big 3, the two extra monster books, and Xanathars). Aren't non-generically-useful books more niche than those that are? Why are they so rare in the release schedule?

What other non-generically useful books? After the core 3, Volo's, Xanathar's and ...sorry,what other monster book? what is there? Modules AFAIK. That's it. SCAG I suppose. But, even that is directly tied to five or six other products.

It basically boils down to this. If it's not going to sell in the 100k books range, WotC isn't interested in doing it. It's that simple. Is a psionic book going to sell like that? I dunno, but, I doubt it since none ever have. Now, if they do a Darksun book, similar to the Eberron book, then, sure, that's where the psionics is going to be found. I can totally see that. But, that's also going to appeal to much broader segment of the audience than just psionic fans.

 

[Lord-Archaon]

I can't properly express my disappointment about this. If I could, it would take more pages than what they are planning to do on psionics, that for sure.

Just one thing: have you noticed how deep is the investment on a MATERIAL psionic focus, on this Psionicist Wizard?? They are able to discorporate themselves (weirdly the only way for them to cast spells in a vaguely psionic way) but in the middle of this psychic/radiant/ethereal body would be... A TRINKET FLOATING. THEIR FREAKING PSIONIC FOCUS, WHICH COULD BE A TOY OF THEIR CHILDHOOD. How stupid is that!?! And not only, it completely subverts the whole idea of psionics needing LESS material components and being LESS flashy in the usage of their powers.
I wonder if they just misunderstood/forgot what a psionic focus was meant to be in previous editions (spoiler: a MENTAL STATE). It would be funny at least, if there was such a mistake and this was all a joke.
A bad joke.

But I seriously doubt it.

 

[Chaosmancer]

What other non-generically useful books? After the core 3, Volo's, Xanathar's and ...sorry,what other monster book? what is there? Modules AFAIK. That's it. SCAG I suppose. But, even that is directly tied to five or six other products.

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Most likely.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I can't speak for EVERYONE but I'm pretty sure that nobody expects them to dedicate a full hardback solely to just that one concept. There is no reason a fully fleshed out psion would have to take much more space than any other class written up in the PHB.


People voicing complaints about there not being a proper full class psion would be very happy to hear "We are still working on a proper Psion class and it will get released when it's ready." I think it's the implication they aren't working on it more is what has people angry.

Generically Useful Books
Player Handbook
Xanathars Guide
Dungeon Masters Guide
Monster Manual
Volos Guide to Monsters
Mordenkainens Tome of Goes

All the other adventure path books and settings guides have generically useful sections that are buried in specific unusable content.

I'm not going to buy a full hardback adventure (Saltmarsh) just to get access to a few pages of naval battle rules or a background or a handful of new monsters.


I

 

[Stacie GmrGrl]

What is psionics then? What is missing exactly?

It’s always been magic waived with a different name and points Instead of spell slots. Is it a spell book that has you upset? Is it the continued use of spell slots?

It's just my opinion but... Psionics are not magic. They are fundamentally different thematically, work in a different way, and are not magic.

Making them a Wizard school/tradition makes then not psionics.

They are not arcane. They are not a sorcerous bloodline. They are not a source for a warlock's patron to give. They are not divine either. They are not bestowed upon a person by a deity. They can't be learned from reading a 'spell'book. They are not spells.

Psionics are its own very different power source.