Unearthed Arcana Psionics Hits Unearthed Arcana

If you've been waiting anxiously for psionics to arrive in the D&D Unearthed Arcana column, your wait is over! The Awakened Mystic is a psionic class by Mike Mearls which - currently - has access to three psionic disciplines, with more to come later. Following on from Mike Mearls' question, Should Psionic Flavour Be Altered? (a discussion which promoted 750+ comments here on EN World, and is still ongoing), it sounds like he has answered the question with a resounding "yes". Rather than pseudo-scientific sounding terms like telepathy, clairovoyance, and the like, we have the disciplines Conquering Mind, Intellect Fortress (a callback to earlier editions), and Third Eye.

UPDATE - IMPORTANT NOTE FROM MIKE MEARLS: "For folks looking at the psionics material in today's UA, looks like there was a minor error. Not all the material is there." Keep an eye on it; I expect it'll be fixed soon.

UPDATE 2 - fixed! Updated document includes another three disciplines (Celerity, Iron Durability, and Psionic Weapon) and the basic rules to the class.

Find it here!

 

[CapnZapp]

The psi points use the same numbers as the spell points variant in the DMG.

Thus, psi points will share the same features and drawbacks as does spell points.

Having spell/psi points means you are effectively converting all your high level slots into first level slots on the cheap, with free re-conversion whenever you want.

The main issue is if first level slots can be used effectively at high levels. A first level slotted damage spell is no problem, but a save or suck spell might be.

Even in 5e you still use your normal save DC for weak spell, so if you can spam a hundred save-or-suck spells in a day that gives you a significant leg up on spellcasters with slots.

The real solution would be to maximize save DCs by slot level (=psi points spent) so that a manifestation you spent 1 PP on never gets a save DC better than, say, DC 11; even though your Int might be 20.

Either that, or tweak the spell/psi power costs to make low level slots more expensive (perhaps using the sorcery points exchange rate)

 

[Psikerlord#]

The Mystic cannot spend all of the psi points in one round.

The Mystic has a ‘psi maximum’ that is exactly equal to casting a highest level spell slot.

As mentioned earlier, the existence of a maximum is too frequently misunderstood.

Ah yes, too much kneejerk!

So... max 5 points in one round pretty much since one discipline at a time (due to concentration). Without MCing then, I think this is probably ok, although you still have the reverse problem of 1st level powers being almost at-will as you grow your power points pool.

Another reason not to allow MCing however. That double action ability plus spells, or adding lethal weapon d10s on top of paladin smite, etc = cray cray.

 

[fuindordm]

The real solution would be to maximize save DCs by slot level (=psi points spent) so that a manifestation you spent 1 PP on never gets a save DC better than, say, DC 11; even though your Int might be 20.

Either that, or tweak the spell/psi power costs to make low level slots more expensive (perhaps using the sorcery points exchange rate)

Yeah, but even if the DC stays at 11 you have a decent chance of affecting some high-level monsters. I think tweaking the cost is a better solution, just enough so that 1st-level slots are never a trivial fraction of the pool.

 

[Staffan]

5 psi points and your bonus action. Warlocks' bonus action is already busy with Hex (and Sorlocks are even busier due to Quickened Spell). It has more of an impact on martial classes due to Extra Attack scaling with number of actions but not bonus actions.

Plus, hex requires concentration so it's incompatible with psionic disciplines.

 

[CapnZapp]

Yeah, but even if the DC stays at 11 you have a decent chance of affecting some high-level monsters. I think tweaking the cost is a better solution, just enough so that 1st-level slots are never a trivial fraction of the pool.

Yeah, but "decent" <> overpowered.

 

[Yaarel]

In a previous edition:

In 3e, one 9th level spell (17 points) = 17 (!) 1st level spells.

However, in 5e, low level spells are more expensive.

In 5e, one 9th level spell (13 points) = only about 6 1st level spells (2 points each).

Thus in 5e, it is less easy to spam low level spells.

 

[Yaarel]

A high-level wizard gets only ~20-30 spells per day, period - they don't have the option of casting 100 first-level spells.

The high level Wizard has just as many spell points as the Mystic does, and can cast as many high slot spells or low slot spells as the Mystic can. They use the same casting mechanic.

It is easy to multiclass as Wizard/Mystic, and combine both of their resources into slots or points.

 

[CapnZapp]

The high level Wizard has just as many spell points as the Mystic does, and can cast as many high slot spells or low slot spells as the Mystic can. They use the same casting mechanic.

It is easy to multiclass as Wizard/Mystic, and combine both of their resources into slots or points.

I'm guessing you're talking about variant wizards using DMG spell points now.

Regular high level Wizards can definitely NOT cast as many low level slots.

 

[CapnZapp]

In a previous edition:

In 3e, one 9th level spell (17 points) = 17 (!) 1st level spells.

However, in 5e, low level spells are more expensive.

In 5e, one 9th level spell (13 points) = only about 6 1st level spells (2 points each).

Thus in 5e, it is less easy to spam low level spells.

That is very good news.

(If I understand the psionics pdf you can spend a single power point. And not a minimum of two, that is. But perhaps those powers are weak for a first level spell, I dunno...)

 

[Raunalyn]

The concentration effects are much too powerful - they should be the equivalent of cantrips, but they're obviously much better than that.

In general, balance is all over the place.

Mechanically this is about the level of polish that I'd expect from the average home-brew class on a forum somewhere, not anything official from wizards, even for an early cut.

I don't think this is truly official yet. It's only the first 5 levels, and it's clear that it is barely even a rough draft.

All-in-all, a little bit of polish, and I think this would be a fun class to play. Yeah, the Mind Thrust is quite a bit over-powered, but that's nothing that isn't fixable. I absolutely love the discipline mechanic, and I want to see what it looks like as a finished product.

Which leads to my next thought. Are they going to compile the Unearthed Arcana articles at a later date? These articles have many interesting ideas that are clearly in beta testing. Anyone know if we're ever going to see the final product?