D&D 5E Psionics in a sci-fi D&D

[Laurefindel]

I like the way "science" is treated as a monolith. Try telling your university faculty that it's all the same so they're combining the physics, chemistry, and biology departments...

Until it's analyzed enough, is it just "stamp collecting"?

hehe, if you really want to stir trouble, include psychology in there too!

On a more serious note, while "science" is not monolithic, the scientific methodology is pretty much universal. As soon as you apply the scientific method to something, you are effectively making it a science.

 

[dragoner]

Science is a process, sciences however ...

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I voted for reskin, but it's not a strong preference.

I'm fine with a new system as long as it works well and is balanced. It's easier to do that with the existing system which is why I voted that way.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

If I were to do it, as in homebrew, I'd reskin. Way easier, way better to get my players to accept it.

If it were official rules, I'd want a new system. Just so that we can play with new things.

 

[Cadence]

It's similar to how the cleric makes a disapointing [...]

... cleric of any particular deity and why I want 10+ different distinct ones built from the ground up (sky down, cave outward, etc...), with rules for making more with completely different properties. Seriously.

 

[Minigiant]

Because it is scifi. Also, they're just different names for the same thing to begin with so having both would be thematically confused.

If there's no magic, why ask the question?

My assumption was that both existed in this setting.

 

[dave2008]

Personally I prefer all magic to share similar mechanics. So if it was really up to me I would have Psion be a subclass and other psionics be feats or something.

However, people love new things and I am interested in new mechanics that don't feature spells, so I voted for a new system.

Lately I have been thinking that only wizards should get spells and other magic classes should have magical class features, but not use spells.

 

[tomBitonti]

Sounds like a warlock patron imbuing the character with power.

So +X casting focus?

You mean pyrokineticist using their mental powers to locally accelerate the motion of molecules to create a focused heat beam?

Except, the fluff matters! The character wasn't just imbued with psionic power: The character was imbued with psionic power by a surgical procedure. There might be in-game consequences to the fluff: Scars from the surgery. Side effects, such as head-aches, occasional black outs, or tremors. The surgery might be undone by another surgery. The changes can be examined via a scanning device. (For example: River Tam, from Serenity.)

Then, a +X casting focus -- which is a mechanical device, which can be studied and understood as a scientific endeavor. Again, the fluff cannot be discarded. The fluff attaches to the device and has consequences.

A "pryokineticist" "accelerating molecules" to create a "focused heat beam". That is a lot of scientific jargon. Typical spell casters seem unlikely to describe a spell in this fashion. Note the implications that the ability wouldn't work in a vacuum, and might not work very well under water.

TomB

 

[tetrasodium]

The Star Wars novels paint a decent picture of what psi=magic looks like. There can be a planet of witches that use rituals to wield the Force.


Also, the novels of Christopher Stasheff are a fun scifi where all magic is explicitly psionic, by "espers", where certain substances are psychosensitive to respond to thought.

Another spin is the Mindspace Investigations novels where technology is basically magic right down to lots of tech that nobody still knows how to make/manage & psionics is kind of hard magic. Babylon5 also has magic through science & kinda hard magic through psionics


* There are reasons that drastically impact how & why people (kinda don't) accept certain forms of tech

 

[Cadence]

Except, the fluff matters! The character wasn't just imbued with psionic power: The character was imbued with psionic power by a surgical procedure. There might be in-game consequences to the fluff: Scars from the surgery. Side effects, such as head-aches, occasional black outs, or tremors. The surgery might be undone by another surgery. The changes can be examined via a scanning device. (For example: River Tam, from Serenity.)

It feels like all of that might fit with an alternate Patron type?