Psionics Coming Soon To D&D?

WotC's Mike Mearls has hinted that we may be able to expect some psionics content soon, possibly in the Unearthed Arcana column. He was asked by Ethan Clow on the Twitterweb "any chance we might see a Psionic class for 5e soon? Perhaps in unearthed arcana?" to which he replied "wouldn't be surprised. I *might* have had a couple prior edition psionics books on my desk last week..." (Thanks to Wolf Hunter for the scoop).

 

[Mephista]

I'm a big fan of all things psionic, but that remark leaves me skeptical. Psionics as 'just another kind of magic' simply doesn't cut it. So, I strongly doubt a typical 'Unearthed Arcana' article can do it justice. It needs a separate source book. Nothing less will do.

Define a not "just another kind of magic" would you? If you mean be vastly different in rules and complexity, where you have to have separate skills and powers to affect psionics than dispel or detect magic, then that's a pain in the arse, and actually bad game design.

If you think it just shouldn't be "arcane" or "divine" magic, I have to question what "arcane" and "divine" magic in 5e is. The cleric and wizard exist, so we can call them the "divine" and "arcane." The sorcerer includes both the "arcane" dragon bloodline and the "divine" favored soul, making sorcerer-magic different from wizards or clerics or druids. The warlock is prime area for gaining power from divine beings such as fiends and an Invocker-Angel Patron. Paladins seem to only require an oath, not gods or cleric magic. No mention of "divine magic" in the druid write up. Everyone is different from each other already.

If you mean a class that calls spells "powers" instead? And rewrites the spells that just effectively reinvent the wheel?

What exactly does all thatt mean?

 

[SkidAce]

Its hard to explain, but everyone has/had a different experience with Psionics. As I said upthread, I realize my view is a minority.

In my campaign, Psionics could cut through a magical protection. The psionicist could levitate in a null magic zone. A psionic imbued spear did not register as magic.

The old transportation portals needed psionic power to activate, and also didnt register as magic.


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And we already use a sorcerer base for other magic archetypes...pyros...cloistered healing orders....mystics.

Would prefer not to use the sorcerer chassis again. Will homebrew and modify if need be, but the systems used before in D&D history allowed me to distinguish clearly between the two things, magic and psionics.

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You may be inclined to reply and tell me that they are the same thing historically, etc.

But remember, just because you understand it one way, doesn't mean others didn't or don't see/play it another way.

I typed this up because even though my campaign's view (circa 1986) is not likely shared by many, it seems that psionics for some reason causes the forums here to be more dismissive of other view points than usual.

"Use the sorcerer and refluff spells" won't work (very well) for us.

Thanks for listening...and remember there are many roads to the same destination....fun games.

 

[Superchunk77]

This has me super-excited.

My guess is that the psion will be a subclass of the sorcerer. The mechanics match up with prior editions pretty well. That being said, I was hoping for a full class with subclasses based around the psionic disciplines.

That's the way I'm currently running it in my Dark Sun 5e game. I made the Sorcerer into the Psion, renamed all his fluff to use powers and changed his spell list, splitting up the "spells" into the different disciplines. I'm using the old 2e powers as a basis for what spells to give the class, but using the 5e spell mechanics. Oh, and they don't use any components to use psionic powers so it meshes with what we've seen in the Monster Manual. I also put together a few new powers based off of the old psionic attack and defense modes for them, and have a setting rule in place that makes psionics and spells different from each other. For example, you can't dispel a psionic power with dispel magic, and vice versa.

 

[wedgeski]

I enjoy psionics but I'm really struggling to justify the idea that they need a whole new system. They're not different or interesting enough to deserve such treatment, IMO.

In the 3E days I would simply say, live and let live, it's no skin off my nose if psionics gets its own book...but these days, with a small D&D team, I would much rather that kind of development went elsewhere.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I would really like to see it feel like Xmen comic psychic feel... again I said it before a bunch of at will chooseable powers that are able to be augmented per encounter (power points)

 

[Fabio Andrea Rossi]

I like psionics. Not in all campaigns, not for all players, but I think they clearly add something different, and after all they would still be optional. To me, what’s different about psionics is the flavor in which they are not a different kind of magic but something different, inherent to a person mental resource.

Thus, I’d like my 5E psionics to be a separate class with perhaps a couple subclasses for fighters and rogues. I would be fine with some spell recycling but the most important part of the class should be a different system, like the ones mentioned here about skill based checks.

One of the things I loved about 2E psionics was the mechanical stuff: a points pool, very different power costs, the relatively early availability of very strong powers at the cost of being able to use them sparingly, with a cost and not reliably.

I mean, in 2E if you wanted to use a power it would mean you still paid half the power cost even if you were not able to pass the power check to activate it, power check which had significant modifiers for stronger powers (more important than ever in the 5E easily achieved higher ability scores).

I also would like psionics to be able to cannibalize their own physical strength to give some extra boost to their power pool, with a cost.

This is something I like and very different from how spellcasting subclassing work (all of them). I also liked the added advantage that Magic Resistance and Psionic Resistance were not the same. I admit it brought up issues as with psionics being a way to counter magic resistant monsters, perhaps they should find a general way to figure out which kind of monsters can be psionic resistant.

As in, Golems are generally magic resistant, Aberrations are generally psionic resistant.

As to when, the sooner the better, but count me in those interested in a full fledged resource more than in an UA article.

 

[Mistwell]

I would really like to see it feel like Xmen comic psychic feel... again I said it before a bunch of at will chooseable powers that are able to be augmented per encounter (power points)

I think I'd like that, yeah. Not sure...but sounds good. As long as I can try and emulate the feel of the Deryni books, I'd be good.

 

[Parmandur]

Ummm.... could you go into a bit more detail? This doesn't make sense to me. What does psionic magic have to do with old school sword and sorcery flavor?

Well, pulp fiction of the Appendix N variety. Spooky pseudo-science speculation. I wouldn't want a whole new system, but a new class with distinct flavor? Bring it.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't consider psionics 'old school sword & sorcery' flavor. Tradition? Reminds me of one of my favorite Gygax quotes, "There's a number of things in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons that I never should have done. I shouldn't have put Psionics in there, but somebody talked me into it.".

Well, most of the nostalgia that seems to be extant is for the 2E version, which was slightly more developed.

 

[Mephista]

Well, pulp fiction of the Appendix N variety. Spooky pseudo-science speculation. I wouldn't want a whole new system, but a new class with distinct flavor? Bring it.

Ummm.... so, you want pulp fiction and not sword and sorcery flavor, then?

And wouldn't that be more of a setting thing than a class design thing?