Psion as Wizard archetype − Happy Fun Hour

[Leatherhead]

The soulknife basically just stabs people with mind blades. Not too much that can be added to that, so you only really need it to deal psychic damage. Though I could see some kind of mental probe being worked into that.

 

[AtomicPope]

The psion wizard is a good way to translate the 3e psion into 5e.

As you've explained through spell lists, Wizards already have enough subclasses to refluff as "psions". We should be looking at some of those subclasses and thinking what kind of psion they'd be.
Mind - Diviner, Enchanter or Illusionist
Spirit - Abjurer, Conjurer or Evoker
Body - Transmuter or Bladesinger

Changing the fluff would be rather easy. Instead of wands as an arcane focus you'd use crystals. The subclass powers would take on the appearance of your "psion" subclass. An Abjurer would have spirit guardians rather than a magic shield. We can look at spells which are more psionic than magic in style. Xanathar's Guide gives us many examples. Shadow Blade is a psiblade. It does psychic damage. Mind Spike is a psychic attack that embeds the caster's consciousness into the target, creating an empathic link. Synaptic Static is a telepathy bomb, like a fireball that burns the mind.

Psionics is sci-fi magic.

 

[Ristamar]

Actually, it is somewhat consistent with what monks do, who are strongly wisdom based. 4e had monks that psionic based, and it worked well, conceptually and mechanically. Also, things like jedi and such have always felt very psionic, and wisdom makes more sense there than int, IMHO.

If they stuck with Wisdom instead of Intelligence across the board, I'd be fine with that. It's the current either/or situation with little explanation (e.g. "because they're monks") that I find unsatisfying.

 

[Yaarel]

Personally, for psionics, tend to find Charisma reasonable (impose your will), and Wisdom reasonable (perceive how things are). It is Intelligence that I struggle to make sense of. I guess Intelligence is to ‘rationally’ figure out reality works. It resembles the ambiguity between Intelligence ‘investigation’ of reality versus Wisdom ‘perception’ of reality.

In any case, all of the mental abilities seem fair game for psionics. Just different flavors.