Now, I have REAL ULTIMATE POWER! (was: HELP REQUESTED for exp. Psi. Handbook)

[Henry]

This is short notice, I know, but for some weird reason this board is good for this sort of thing - and thus I post my plea.

I am jonesing for the Expanded Psionics Handbook, and do not wish to wait for shipping. I am near the Lumberton and Fayetteville, NC areas - does anyone in the NC area know of a good Hobby store in these areas, and if I'm really lucky, is there a poster reading this who actually lives in that area and knows where I can go buy the thing right now?

If you can help me, it is much appreciated. You are my hero. You're everything I wish I could be. You are the wind beneath my wings.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Piratecat]

Dammit, you told me that *I* was the wind beneath your wings. Are you so fickle?

runs away sobbing

 

[diaglo]

sorry, i know nothink about Carolina hobby stores. and my geography stinks too.

how far away is Cary, NC? they have an Orc's Nest

try:Hobbit Inc
6111-A Yadkin Rd
Fayetteville, NC
28303 US
Map It
Phone: 910-864-3155

link: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=company/locator&storeID=28303/387372

 

[diaglo]

for stores in NC just try:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=company/locator

 

[Henry]

Dammit, you told me that *I* was the wind beneath your wings. Are you so fickle?

runs away sobbing

If it nets me an XPH, then yes!

Diaglo, thanks for the heads up. So far, I've found

The Hobbit at 6111-A Yadkin Road
Games & Hobbies at 5439 Yadkin Road


I'll try my luck there first. If neither have it, then no need to go outta my way. The stores around my neck of the woods sure don't have it, and probably won't for another week or two.

 

[diaglo]

Henry,

well...did you land a copy?

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Henry, how could you have "Real Ultimate Power"? Only Ninjas have RUP and if in fact you ARE a Ninja then I must cease speaking to you. Ninjas and Pirates are natural enemies... much like how King Kong and Godzilla are.

 

[Henry]

I found a copy in Columbia Saturday - all the stores in Fayetteville either were out or closed early.

I must say, I like it a lot. it really gives the Psions the power boost they need to keep up with sorc's and wizards. I did enjoy the challenge of playing a useful Psion in the 3.0 edition, but it will be nice to not have to use a whole extra sourcebook just to be useful.

LIKES:

• More balanced power with respect to spellcaster classes.
• Augmentations.
• The new take on the psionic modes (the immediate thought shields, tower of iron will, mental barrier, etc.) - this is the kind of thing Psions needed to have in the first place, and they took the idea behind the immediate mechanics of burst and valor and implemented them well.

DISLIKES:

• Strange as it sounds, I don't like Psions having access to ANY energy form, and all within the same power, with different useful effects for each one available at casting time. It's a little TOO powerful for my taste - perhaps a series of energy substitution feats would be a little less powerful.
• I tried with my Nomad Psion Sunday, and I CANNOT convert him from 3.0 to 3.5 even to within 75% of what he was. Don't get me wrong, He's FAR more powerful than we was under 3.0, but half of his powers he couldn't take, because they were buried in other disciplines' restricted lists. I can use the Psionic Knowledge feat (forget it's name) to gain the one or two most important, but most of them are out of reach. He's about 50% similar to the previous one, enough so that most of what he's done in the past is not invalidated, but some things (including invisibility) are just plain GONE.
• Half-Giants: Ick. I dislike the way they were redone (from Dark Sun style to more generic), and that's really all I can say. I understand why they were done that way, but I still like my super-strong alignment-crazy Athasian Giants.
• Other Races: I don't find them interesting, but I do find most of them balanced with other races (+6 DEX to Githzerai??? What the...), and I'm sure someone else will want to play them, so that's what matters. They just didn't light my fire.

Overall, far more good than bad, and I would be happy to have these Psions, Soulknives, Wilders, and PsyWars in a campaign of most any sort, and I DARN sure won't have another DM tell me that they aren't powerful enough to survive in his FR campaign.

I like it, and it was a good buy.

 

[Piratecat]

My psiwarrior converted over about 80%; I changed some powers around (Reach for Expansion, hustle for extra speed since skate and burst no longer stack), but tried to stay true to the general concept. I'm a little surprised that your psion was so difficult to convert.

 

[Henry]

My psiwarrior converted over about 80%; I changed some powers around (Reach for Expansion, hustle for extra speed since skate and burst no longer stack), but tried to stay true to the general concept.

My general concept for a friend's FR game involved a Nomad with the optional rules for If Thoughts could kill (the upgraded PP tables, and the "choose three disciplines to key off of your main attribute" rule), therefore he's strong with Telepathy, PsycoK, MetaC, and PsycoP. His charm person, lesser dominate, control body went into the Telepathy Discipline, and metaphys weapon went to psychic warrior; he gets more feats, and I placed them into the feats to gain focus faster (narrow mind & the one that makes it a move action). His invisiblity is gone (cloud mind is almost useless outside of a battlefield), and his Fly was nuked (to be fair, it's the 3.5 Fly spell, so no biggie there). Several of his powers went from sharable to not sharable (freedom of movement was a big hit with my fellow adventurers). My stock of dull grey ioun stones are not as useful but psionic shot's change is well worth it. My Lesser body adjustments were also powered by my ioun stones, and its change to higher level means less use there.

I also have one conceit - To remake my psion totally I would have to spend all of his 2nd level power choices on 1st level powers to make up for the folding in of talents into 1st level. In all, some of the things he's done (missives to coordinate ambushes, trinkets to impress nobility, control shadow to misdirect a guard), to have him still able to do them would be a huge waste of 2nd level powers, so I didn't do it. I love the new take on those talents, though, so not a huge loss. I'd still rather have my skating, bursting, arrow-shooting nancy elf who makes a monk look slow.

But I'll miss the flying clouds of Ioun Dust that used to mark my character's passing...