Other possible power sources

[Mouseferatu]

And I agree with those who do not want to see "ki" and "psionic" folded together. They're really very different in execution and feel.

 

[Traycor]

And I agree with those who do not want to see "ki" and "psionic" folded together. They're really very different in execution and feel.

Really, the idea behind Ki is mastering the inner power of one's self.
And Psionics are the same thing.

I believe these should be folded into a single power "source" that indicates use of personal strength and ability.

Psionics and Ki will still be different in the same way that Wizard arcane source magic is different from "shadow" arcane source or from "true name" arcane source. Or in the same way that a barbarian's rage is totally different from a rogue's sneak attack, yet they both come from the "martial source".

 

[hong]

Well, maybe if they ditched that Victorian-era technobabble about ectoplasm and crystals, I would be okay with merging ki and psionics. Besides that, though, ki comes with lots of Oriental psychobabble about inner serenity or achieving enlightenment, which I kinda like. So if they ditched that, I would be sad.

 

[hong]

Actually, I think Irda Ranger is right; ki and martial are, when you come down to it, much the same thing in practice. The guys you see using ki in movies are generally beating people up with fists and/or swords, which is what martial characters would do.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Actually, I think Irda Ranger is right; ki and martial are, when you come down to it, much the same thing in practice.

On the face of it, yeah, but I think that's superficial. IMO, the martial power source is nothing except physical conditioning, training, and practice. Ki would be full of the psychobabble you mentioned earlier. There is overlap, but I think ki is much more a mental/spiritual quality, than a physical. That's why I think the two are distinct enough to be deserve their own treatment.

 

[hong]

Well, something like a "divine power source" is pretty superficial too, if you think about it hard enough.

As I see it, this power source concept was created to solve a specific operational problem: how do you justify giving fighters (and rogues) super powers without breaking SoD. The funny thing is that ki is a ready-made answer to that. Operationally speaking (without referring to backstory or other such things), martial artists and monks in the source material basically fill the same niche as fighters: they use weapons, and display martial prowess. Hence I don't see any problem in treating ki as equivalent to martial. All the inner serenity stuff can still be class-specific, just like the druid's backstory can feature nature-oriented stuff that doesn't apply to the cleric even though both are divine.

 

[Incenjucar]

I honestly don't see a need for anything beyond Magical, Martial, and Mental, and you could frankly just have Mystical and Mundane and be done with it.

It all amounts to a mana bar regardless of what you call it.

 

[Connorsrpg]

Arcane
Divine
Martial
Souls/Life force
Nature (inc local environment, eg dwarf prestige class drawing its power from the earth/stone)
Other creatures inc bound beings
Ki
Psionic
Alignment/Belief
Oaths/vows
Runes (for sure)
Akashic memory/hive mind
Spirits/Ancestors


Possibly music, as several myths and stories grant 'power' to music.

I actually like the idea of a power source, as long as it doesn't get too out of hand. It would certainly help explain some PrC abilities. Arer they just super good, or is their a different source for some of their amazing powers.

C

 

[Mercule]

Belief. Not divine power, which comes from gods, but the power of belief itself - the power that drives the Planes of the Great Wheel.

That'd be psionics: the power of the mind.

I really, really hope they drop the whole "godless priest" idea in 4E. The best thing in Complete Psionic was the Ardent which finally made sense of that notion.

 

[Mercule]

I think we'll see psionic (bet the bank on that one), but otherwise, I don't know.

I'd love to say blood will be in there and cover planetouched, dragonblooded, and the bloodlines of UA, but the tieflings in the PHB seem to indicate that will be handled racially.

I also want to see planar, for shadow magic, elementalists, and a couple other ideas, but those might fold into arcane.

I'd also like to see runes, truenaming, and binders, but each seems too narrow for its own source.