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

[Bacon Bits]

Yeah. The tough thing is to make them feel different than spells. How does that work? That's the question.

The same way cleric, druids, bards, and wizards feel different. Unique spells with a limited area of expertise.

 

[Mind of tempest]

The same way cleric, druids, bards, and wizards feel different. Unique spells with a limited area of expertise.

do we have a list of the type of topics for the psion with a definition of what they are about so more spell can be rapidly made?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The same way cleric, druids, bards, and wizards feel different. Unique spells with a limited area of expertise.

I think it's a flaw in 5e that they actually don't feel all that different.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I prefer psionics stay far away from my 5e D&D game. But if they must exist anything is better than the recharge "per hour" option as that involves tracking time in a way none of my gaming tables do.

 

[Minigiant]

I still kinda wish Psionics was like superheroes. You get 1-3 powers that work at will and you can put more energy to enhance them or dip into adjacent powers.

Like you can take Telepathy (Link), Clairsentience (sight), and Psychokinesis (Push) toget basic at will mindlink, farsight, and force push. You put power points into Telepathy (Link) to forcefully read minds or into Psychokinesis (Push) to get Psychokinesis (FIRE!) at a higher cost.

 

[Sithlord]

Just reprint the 2E psionics handbook and adjust the damage for 5E. The perfect system

 

[Mind of tempest]

I still kinda wish Psionics was like superheroes. You get 1-3 powers that work at will and you can put more energy to enhance them or dip into adjacent powers.

Like you can take Telepathy (Link), Clairsentience (sight), and Psychokinesis (Push) toget basic at will mindlink, farsight, and force push. You put power points into Telepathy (Link) to forcefully read minds or into Psychokinesis (Push) to get Psychokinesis (FIRE!) at a higher cost.

too abstract to really work and have super limited would work better for a half-caste from a conceptual level.

Just reprint the 2E psionics handbook and adjust the damage for 5E. The perfect system

look I have read through that book and no it is not plus you have to get it to obey the 5e design structure.

 

[TiwazTyrsfist]

I want it to work like it did in 2nd ed

 

[Mind of tempest]

I want it to work like it did in 2nd ed

which bit it had two? plus the updating will change it no matter what we do.

 

[steeldragons]

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

This is very similar to my own homebrew Psychic class is set. Which really doesn't (though I selected the Power Point option) match any of the poll options perfectly. They are Point driven, that's the Class' signature mechanic that makes them "not just another wizard/caster." But there are also inherent powers to all Psychics (Talents) and innate powers tied to your area of focus (Discipline) that are universal to all psychics of your kind.

I have a more limited number of "sub-classes" worked out (4, not 6). And the selection of a subclass ("discipline"), in the 5e vein, is pushed back to 3rd level.

You begin with "Mental Talents" (a.k.a. Psychic cantrips) that are, mostly, at will. Some more powerful talents have point costs. These talents include various offensive and defensive powers that are, largely, effective against any sentient/sapient mind, so the Psychic need not feel "useless" their first few levels. A lot of them are "divinatory" in nature: Detecting Minds, Detecting Auras, Detecting [other] Psychics (e.g. Psychicly Aware minds/creatures, psychic energies/powers in the area, etc...], Sensing Danger, and such like.

You begin with a number of Talents, and gain more as you level up. But you use them at will (predominantly).

When you choose a Discipline: Telepathy or Telekinetics are the base/first options presented, I later added Clairvoyance and Empathy as additional disciplines - you receive a base, at will, power that can be augmented with points spent, and gain additional innate discipline powers...I want to say at 3 further levels (don't recall offhand which ones. Something like 7th, 11th, 15th sounds about right). Otherwise, you have access to ANY and ALL powers in your Discipline power list. These lists are divided into various amounts of PP, vs. "spell level," that must be spent to enact.

So, you could spend all day using minor point or at will powers and feel fine. OR, if necessity warranted, you might blow your entire daily allotment of PP in a single massive manifestation that leaves you completely exhausted...but you brought down the entire temple on that army of snake-demons that had your party hopelessly outnumbered, for example.

Expanding your mental powers into a secondary discipline comes in at higher level...I think 12th...

I expect, eventually, if there were call for it from a player, I could add in the metabolic and 'porting powers/disciplines. The Empath has a little bit of metabolic powers, now that I think about it. But minor. No shapeshifting or anything like that.

EDIT: Oh! And I DO, wherever possible, use the names of standardized spells to describe powers that do the same thing. I think it assists in player "buy-in" and comprehension. You can have your magely spellbook-carrying guy who knows the incantation to Charm Person. OR, you could be a Psychic, take the Telepathy discipline, and Charm Person without a word. Any tweaking/variables that work differently for the psychic version, are just explained in the spell description. So, there are powers in the Psychic power lists like Detect Magic, Suggestion, Hold Person and Levitate. But there are also things like "Moment of Prescience" and "Energy Dispersion," "Aggression Inversion" and "Vertigo Blast."