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

[Paul Farquhar]

This is not true. A lot of people have seen Dune, man. It has not had a "minimal" cultural impact.

Not here they haven't. No one is going near movie theatres at the moment.

X-Men hasn't had a huge impact in a while, but everyone still knows about it, and everyone loved Logan, which did really well.

Logan was popular amongst the older established X-Men fans. It didn't have much impact with the high school age group.

And if a retro feel is better, aren't you basically arguing for me if these two concepts are so retro?

Retro isn't better - I wouldn't buy it, but it's probably what is needed here.

Your perspective here is too disconnected from the reality we're living down here imo.

I think I'm living in a different country to you.

 

[Shardstone]

Not here they haven't. No one is going near movie theatres at the moment.

Logan was popular amongst the older established X-Men fans. It didn't have much impact with the high school age group.

Retro isn't better - I wouldn't buy it, but it's probably what is needed here.

I think I'm living in a different country to you.

My cohorts are international, but are primarily American.

I don't know why you're talking about high school age group. That is firmly gen Z. Most people who are nerds in my age group know about X-Men, watched the show or movies, and still enjoy it.

Your comment about Dune is a straight up a lie. Dune did really well in theaters, and a lot of people went to go see it, and its on HBO Max. YOu are literally pulling this out of your ass. Bro, if you don't hang out with people in their 20s often, and if you're basing this off your couchsurfing and your 30-some old players, then you just flat out don't know what you're talking about. Your assumptions are false. Literally, here I am, someone in my late 20s, in many other D&D and nerd-based groups, and Dune was huge in all of them, and X-Men is always a favorite.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

I think using Dune as a touchstone for psionics has problems because two of the pillars of psychic powers in the popular imagination (telepathy and telekinesis) are pretty much absent.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I think using Dune as a touchstone for psionics has problems because two of the pillars of psychic powers in the popular imagination (telepathy and telekinesis) are pretty much absent.

it is one of the pillars for the other types and we can bring in the ideas for the non-telepathic or telekinetic.

 

[Scars Unseen]

I think using Dune as a touchstone for psionics has problems because two of the pillars of psychic powers in the popular imagination (telepathy and telekinesis) are pretty much absent.

Almost any non-generic fiction is going to be focused like that. It's one reason why I think that a single class and a single design template (e.g. 5E full caster) won't be satisfying. It's also why D&D doesn't list a single novel or author as its inspiration. IMO you need to figure out your inspiration, figure out how that works, and then design a class around giving the same kind of feel. Otherwise you end up with the artificer, which does the bare minimum in trying to live up to its name just so that it can neatly fit into the way WotC decided all casters in 5E should work.

 

[Shardstone]

I think using Dune as a touchstone for psionics has problems because two of the pillars of psychic powers in the popular imagination (telepathy and telekinesis) are pretty much absent.

It would be one of many. If you read my original post, you'd see I had multiple different touchstones for the Psion.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Monty Python and The Holy Grail is pretty much the most referenced source, despite it having been made before most of my players where born!

The other problem with Dune is it's brand of space magic is closely tied to the setting and very distinctive. Same is true of Star Wars. That's great for world building, but for something like Level Up something more generic (e.g. Traveller) is called for. Generic is boring, but it has the best chance of appealing to the broadest target audience.

The Princess Bride is also a popular quote-mine.

I think Babylon 5's psionics would be a good base. Stick to things associated with telepathy and telekinesis. Let it be a genetic mutation, or legacy of a progenitor species that is handled differently in different cultures. That still leaves a lot of space to play in.

 

[Hussar]

The Princess Bride is also a popular quote-mine.

I think Babylon 5's psionics would be a good base. Stick to things associated with telepathy and telekinesis. Let it be a genetic mutation, or legacy of a progenitor species that is handled differently in different cultures. That still leaves a lot of space to play in.

Wasn't that kinda the direction WotC was going by tying psionics to the Far Realms? I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but, I seem to recall that. I thought it was a decent enough idea, but, it did seem to generate a fair bit of push back.

So, if we're going down the "inherited powers" road, I think it likely needs some sort of new "progenitor" race without baggage to avoid that. Otherwise, no matter what progenitor they choose, someone's going to get their nose out of joint.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Wasn't that kinda the direction WotC was going by tying psionics to the Far Realms? I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but, I seem to recall that. I thought it was a decent enough idea, but, it did seem to generate a fair bit of push back.

So, if we're going down the "inherited powers" road, I think it likely needs some sort of new "progenitor" race without baggage to avoid that. Otherwise, no matter what progenitor they choose, someone's going to get their nose out of joint.

Well, they can make a new progenitor race if they want, or more likely you could deliberately keep it vague. Also, the Far Realm has a very specific flavor that not everyone can get behind.

 

[Hussar]

Well, they can make a new progenitor race if they want, or more likely you could deliberately keep it vague. Also, the Far Realm has a very specific flavor that not everyone can get behind.

Agreed. That’s what I meant about baggage. Vague is probably better.