D&D General [Poll] How do you prefer psionics to work?

[DeviousQuail]

Yes, but the dice WERE for the subclasses. There was no psion class in that UA. I wouldn't want a full class based on the die. It could be used a bit to give it flavor, but a full caster psionic class(psion/mystic) would need a different mechanic, such as spell points or whatever.

If it's a matter of scale you can always increase the number of dice. I'm not saying it's the best way to mechanically handle psionics but I like it because it's different, has a lot of levers to pull, and tracking is pretty simple (just set some dice in front of you and switch them out as necessary).

 

[Sacrosanct]

A lot of great responses here, and the votes seem to be overwhelmingly for point powered system, with comments based on specialization, and make it unique from any spell casting mechanic. got some ideas bouncing in my head. I'll summarize shortly.

 

[Mind of tempest]

A lot of great responses here, and the votes seem to be overwhelmingly for point powered system, with comments based on specialization, and make it unique from any spell casting mechanic. got some ideas bouncing in my head. I'll summarize shortly.

summarize fast I wish to get to hammering out the fun bits.

 

[Sacrosanct]

So here's what I've got so far:

There are six discipline types that the PC can choose to specialize in. At level 1, you choose one of the following:

Discipline

Clairsentience

Psychokinesis

Psychometabolism

Psychoportation

Telepathy

Psychic Alteration

Each discipline has passive abilities that you gain at certain levels:

Discipline	Passive level 1	Passive level 4	Passive level 8	Passive level 12
Clairsentience	anticipate attack (+1 AC)	know direction	identify	+2 ST bonus
Psychokinesis	1lb 10ft 1 round	2 objects	10lb	5 objects
Psychometabolism	+2 ST poison/venom/disease	immune to crits	choose one ancestry trait	regenerate 1 hp per turn
Psychoportation	+5 movement rate	ignore difficult terrain	+5 movement rate	+4 ST vs reflex (blink)
Telepathy	Sense feelings	Bond (1 creature)	detect alignment	detect lie/truth
Psychic Alteration	minor illusion	animate 1 lb, concentration	change material 1 cu ft concentration	alter shape 1 cu ft

Each discipline has several powers, each of which can be powered based on how many willpower points you devote to that power. For example, clairsentience has a probability power where if you use 1 point, you can shift the die result by 1. if you spent 2 points, you can reroll 1s. And at 4 pts, you get to reroll the die, etc. There are powers that increase the amount by points invested (like healing), or the duration of the effect (going from 1 round per level to 1 turn per level), or completely different effects (levitating to flight). But they all are powered by this point investment mechanic.

The maximum number of points you can use depends on level. However, you can overcharge an ability. I.e., if you're level 6 and have a maximum point contribution of 3 points per power, you can add 1 more point above your threshold and put 4 points towards a power, but doing so results in a penalty (a level of exhaustion for example).

As you gain in levels, you gain access to additional disciplines and powers, as well as increasing your willpower point pool. So a 10th level PC might have access to three of the six disciplines, and 10 total powers from those three disciplines.

so far I have these powers:

Discipline	Name
Clairsentience	Probability
Clairsentience	Sight
Clairsentience	Combat premonition
Psychic Alteration	Alter Material
Psychic Alteration	Shapechange
Psychic Alteration	Animate Objects
Psychokinesis	Telekinesis
Psychokinesis	Push
Psychokinesis	Shield
Psychokinesis	Forcefield
Psychometabolism	Heal
Psychometabolism	Purify
Psychometabolism	Alter Body
Psychometabolism	Infiltration
Psychometabolism	Body enhancement
Psychometabolism	Grow/shrink
Psychoportation	Movement
Psychoportation	Shifting
Psychoportation	Phase object
Telepathy	Meditate
Telepathy	Mind link
Telepathy	Mind Attack
Telepathy	Influence
Telepathy	Frighten
Telepathy	Illusion

 

[Sacrosanct]

summarize fast I wish to get to hammering out the fun bits.

Is that fast enough? LOL

 

[Sacrosanct]

Keep in mind this list is just very rough ideas to get the point across. Please don't take these as gospel

Discipline	Name	1 pt	2 pt	4 pt	6 pt
Clairsentience	Probability	alter roll by 1 point	reroll 1s	reroll any roll
Clairsentience	Sight	clairaudience	clairvoyance
Clairsentience	Combat premonition	+1 to attack per point
Psychic Alteration	Alter Material	1 cu ft 1 rnd per level	5cu ft 1 rnd per level	5 cu ft 1 turn per level	10cu ft 1 turn per level
Psychic Alteration	Shapechanged	1 cu ft, 1 turn per level	5 cu ft	10 cu ft	50cu ft
Psychic Alteration	Animate Objects	1 object 1 cu ft (stat block)	5 cu ft	10 cu ft	20 cu ft
Psychokinesis	Telekinesis	10lb 10ft 1 round per level	50lbs 30ft 1 round per level	200 lbs 30ft 1 round per level	1000 lbs, 10ft, 1 round per level
Psychokinesis	Push	200 lbs, 10ft back	500 lbs, 25ft back	1000 lbs, 25ft back	5000lbs 25ft back
Psychokinesis	Shield	+2 AC until next ROUND	+2 AC 1 round per level	+4 AC 1 round per level	+4 AC per round, block first attack
Psychokinesis	Forcefield	1 pt dmg reduction until next turn	1d6 dmg reduction until next turn	1d6 dmg reduc 1 round per level	2d6 dmg reduc 1 round per level
Psychometabolism	Heal	1d6 hp per point
Psychometabolism	Purify	remove poison	remove paralysis	remove petrification	recover lost level
Psychometabolism	Alter Body	modify 1 body part, 1 round per level	1 turn per level	polymorph 1 round per level	polymorph 1 turn per level
Psychometabolism	Infiltration	fade away	invisibility	enhanced invisibility
Psychometabolism	Body enhancement	1 ability +1d4	1 ability +1d8	1 turn per level
Psychometabolism	Grow/shrink	50% taller/smaller, +2 strength	x2 height, 25% height, +4 strength	1 turn per level	5x height/10% height, +6 strength
Psychoportation	Movement	leap	levitate	haste	fly
Psychoportation	Shifting	blink	dimension door	passwall	teleport
Psychoportation	Phase object	1 lb, 30ft range	5lbs 50ft range	25 lbs, 75ft range	50 lbs, 100ft range
Telepathy	Meditate	remove charm/fear	remove hold	remove all compulsion	remove dominance
Telepathy	Mind link	ESP	Message	ESP 1 creature per level
Telepathy	Mind Attack	Mind spike	Stun	Comatose	Dominate
Telepathy	Influence	suggestion	charm	mass suggestion	mass charm
Telepathy	Frighten	scare	fear	mass fear
Telepathy	Illusion	minor illusion, 1 target	1 target per level	major illusion	perfect illusion

 

[CleverNickName]

That's impressive work, @Sacrosanct! It's not something I'd use for D&D, but it would look great in my Esper Genesis game.

 

[Mind of tempest]

nice work @Sacrosanct, we will be needing to hammer out better names as psychopotation, Psychic Alteration and Psychometabolism are horrible sounding and we will need lots of options.

plus a detailed idea on what the subtypes are truly about.

 

[Lanefan]

A few quick thoughts on the abilities listed, which on the whole are pretty good:

Combat premonition should somehow be able to improve the user's initiative roll: they see it coming and can react faster.

Removal of petrification assumes the person petrified is still alive and sentient in there, a big leap when your brain's just been turned to stone with the rest of you. Unless you mean removal of petrification from someone else, but it should say that if that's what's meant.

Actually, in general there needs to be more clarity across the chart as to which - if any - of these abilities can be used on someone else.

Telepathy, as a key class feature, needs some serious beefing up. Detect Lie should be in there somewhere, also some sort of deep memory reading or scan (ESP just gives surface thoughts, right?) and maybe a Detect Charm of some sort. But most important: telepathy needs to be given a long-range - as in, anywhere on the same plane at the highest point-count - mind-to-mind communication option. This alone would make psionicists both attractive to play and useful to have in parties.

That said, one aspect of Telepathy is a mess: the whole Meditate line might as well not be there as if you're already charmed or dominated you're not going to want to do this in the first place as you'd have no good reason to, rendering it useless. Again, unless the intent is that it works on others; but that's not stated.

The Movement line might step into the Monk's niche a bit too far.

 

[Sacrosanct]

A few quick thoughts on the abilities listed, which on the whole are pretty good:

Combat premonition should somehow be able to improve the user's initiative roll: they see it coming and can react faster.

Removal of petrification assumes the person petrified is still alive and sentient in there, a big leap when your brain's just been turned to stone with the rest of you. Unless you mean removal of petrification from someone else, but it should say that if that's what's meant.

Actually, in general there needs to be more clarity across the chart as to which - if any - of these abilities can be used on someone else.

Telepathy, as a key class feature, needs some serious beefing up. Detect Lie should be in there somewhere, also some sort of deep memory reading or scan (ESP just gives surface thoughts, right?) and maybe a Detect Charm of some sort. But most important: telepathy needs to be given a long-range - as in, anywhere on the same plane at the highest point-count - mind-to-mind communication option. This alone would make psionicists both attractive to play and useful to have in parties.

That said, one aspect of Telepathy is a mess: the whole Meditate line might as well not be there as if you're already charmed or dominated you're not going to want to do this in the first place as you'd have no good reason to, rendering it useless. Again, unless the intent is that it works on others; but that's not stated.

The Movement line might step into the Monk's niche a bit too far.

All solid ideas. Again, those were just really rough ideas I threw out there just to fill out the general idea of where I wanted to go. A lot of the "remove charm" should instead be "immune to charm" as your mind can block out the attack. Something along those lines.