So the Mystic bit the dust. Honestly, I feel like that was kind of the right decision because they were trying SO HARD to make the class cover literally every role and option of every other character class to the point of it being an obnoxious mess. I thought the idea of Disciplines as "Spell Groupings" that you learned was a really cool concept, but WotC decided to throw the baby out with the bathwater and lean REALLY HARD on the Wild Talent angle.
I think that was a poor decision.
But moving forward they've flatly decided that the Psionic Die is the way to go. A scaling and shifting tool that determines how your psionic powers function. It's neat... but being tacked onto Fighter, Rogue, and Sorcerer it's also very limited in how much it can actually do without interfering with all the class features of those classes too heavily.
So I figured I'd poke at a few ideas... The first one I've had is: Multiple Psionic Dice.
What if a level 1 Psionicist started with a d6 (Like a 3rd level Soulknife or Psy-Knight, or a 1st level Psionic Sorcerer). But at 3rd level, instead of increasing the Psi Die, they gained a second dice at 1d4.
Could put in a stipulation that a given ability could only benefit from one Psionic die, but make it so they can use multiple psi die in a turn if they've got abilities that use Psionic Dice that have different action costs. Or they can use the d6 'til it breaks by rolling max value twice, and then start rolling that d4 to try and grow it into a d6 before it rolls a 4 and is also lost. Short Rest recovery and all...
How about at 5th level their main Psi Die increases to 1d8 but they still have that d4 until 7th level when it grows to 1d6. Then at 9th they get their third die at d4.
11 their first die grows to 1d10, 13 their second die grows to 1d8, and 15 their third die grows to 1d6.
At 17th, 18th, and 19th levels their dice grow again, maxing out at 1d12, 1d10, 1d8.
But How do they use them?
Talents. Cantrips that scale like normal, but also get a bonus whenever you use a Psi Dice with them.
Like a Psychic Blast Talent. Normally does 1d6 damage (2d6 at 5, 3d6 at 10, 4d6 at 15) on a failed Intelligence Save, half damage on a successful one to a single target within 30ft.
But if you use a d4 Psi Die to pump the power you make it a 5ft line and add that d4 to the damage for every d6 you roll. (So at level 1 you're rolling 1d6+1d4, and at level 5 you're doing 2d6+2d4)
Use a d6 Psi Die and it has the 5ft line and stuns the target until the start of your next turn, plus the d6 added to every normal damage die you'd roll. (Level 10 would do 3d6+3d6!)
Use a d8 Psi Die and it becomes a 30ft cone that stuns the target until the start of your next turn, plus the d8 for every dice rolled.
Use a d10 and it stuns everyone in that cone for 1 minute if they fail their save and they get to try again at the end of their turns, adds the d10 to each dice.
Use a d12 and it becomes a 60ft cone with all the previous benefits.
So once you're 17th level you can throw a 60ft cone Psionic Blast that deals 4d6+4d12 and stuns all targets for a minute... But if you roll a 12 on any of those damage dice, your Psi die shrinks to a d10 and you can only do a 30ft cone the next time you use the ability that deals 4d6+4d10. Unless you also roll a 1 on those 4d12, of course.
In addition to some Pumpable Talents, the class should get an Eldritch-Blast style equivalent baseline effect. Something that deals 1d10 and scales with level to hit multiple targets... So that while using a Talent with a Psi Dice is particularly valuable, they still get something nice for when they run out of Psi Dice.
Slap on an Invocation-Style mechanic, with invocations that affect the Eldritch Blast equivalent, add in psionic movement options and abilities that manipulate the psi dice or allow them to be used for something other than Talents, then maybe give the Base Class some Telepathic funtime stuff and defensive powers...
And make Shapers, Psionic Chirgeons, and Psychic Warriors into Archetypes/Subclasses.
My question to you, Dear Reader, is whether I should actually write this out into a full class, or just leave it on the vine to die.
I think that was a poor decision.
But moving forward they've flatly decided that the Psionic Die is the way to go. A scaling and shifting tool that determines how your psionic powers function. It's neat... but being tacked onto Fighter, Rogue, and Sorcerer it's also very limited in how much it can actually do without interfering with all the class features of those classes too heavily.
So I figured I'd poke at a few ideas... The first one I've had is: Multiple Psionic Dice.
What if a level 1 Psionicist started with a d6 (Like a 3rd level Soulknife or Psy-Knight, or a 1st level Psionic Sorcerer). But at 3rd level, instead of increasing the Psi Die, they gained a second dice at 1d4.
Could put in a stipulation that a given ability could only benefit from one Psionic die, but make it so they can use multiple psi die in a turn if they've got abilities that use Psionic Dice that have different action costs. Or they can use the d6 'til it breaks by rolling max value twice, and then start rolling that d4 to try and grow it into a d6 before it rolls a 4 and is also lost. Short Rest recovery and all...
How about at 5th level their main Psi Die increases to 1d8 but they still have that d4 until 7th level when it grows to 1d6. Then at 9th they get their third die at d4.
11 their first die grows to 1d10, 13 their second die grows to 1d8, and 15 their third die grows to 1d6.
At 17th, 18th, and 19th levels their dice grow again, maxing out at 1d12, 1d10, 1d8.
But How do they use them?
Talents. Cantrips that scale like normal, but also get a bonus whenever you use a Psi Dice with them.
Like a Psychic Blast Talent. Normally does 1d6 damage (2d6 at 5, 3d6 at 10, 4d6 at 15) on a failed Intelligence Save, half damage on a successful one to a single target within 30ft.
But if you use a d4 Psi Die to pump the power you make it a 5ft line and add that d4 to the damage for every d6 you roll. (So at level 1 you're rolling 1d6+1d4, and at level 5 you're doing 2d6+2d4)
Use a d6 Psi Die and it has the 5ft line and stuns the target until the start of your next turn, plus the d6 added to every normal damage die you'd roll. (Level 10 would do 3d6+3d6!)
Use a d8 Psi Die and it becomes a 30ft cone that stuns the target until the start of your next turn, plus the d8 for every dice rolled.
Use a d10 and it stuns everyone in that cone for 1 minute if they fail their save and they get to try again at the end of their turns, adds the d10 to each dice.
Use a d12 and it becomes a 60ft cone with all the previous benefits.
So once you're 17th level you can throw a 60ft cone Psionic Blast that deals 4d6+4d12 and stuns all targets for a minute... But if you roll a 12 on any of those damage dice, your Psi die shrinks to a d10 and you can only do a 30ft cone the next time you use the ability that deals 4d6+4d10. Unless you also roll a 1 on those 4d12, of course.
In addition to some Pumpable Talents, the class should get an Eldritch-Blast style equivalent baseline effect. Something that deals 1d10 and scales with level to hit multiple targets... So that while using a Talent with a Psi Dice is particularly valuable, they still get something nice for when they run out of Psi Dice.
Slap on an Invocation-Style mechanic, with invocations that affect the Eldritch Blast equivalent, add in psionic movement options and abilities that manipulate the psi dice or allow them to be used for something other than Talents, then maybe give the Base Class some Telepathic funtime stuff and defensive powers...
And make Shapers, Psionic Chirgeons, and Psychic Warriors into Archetypes/Subclasses.
My question to you, Dear Reader, is whether I should actually write this out into a full class, or just leave it on the vine to die.
