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

[Minigiant]

you also have to balance game needs over pure replica, also force healing is now certainly a thing.

most psi characters just get one or two abilities in fiction that they use to great effect but that does not translate to a class-based game very well at all.
it would work in something classless maybe.

for telekineses, mass effect might be a good place to look for spells or abilities

Characters with 1 or 2 powers can work in D&D. 4e managed it well.

The issue is D&D tends to shy from directly design one move cheese outside of weapon users.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

The 5E OGL Esper Genesis already has a decent psionic class in their game, the Adept. I am not sure what all could be done with the same allowed rules and mechanics to make another that feels different enough to not seem like copying.

 

[Laurefindel]

The 5E OGL Esper Genesis already has a decent psionic class in their game, the Adept. I am not sure what all could be done with the same allowed rules and mechanics to make another that feels different enough to not seem like copying.

Hum, I'm curious about that.

Also, does Esper Genesis reuse the 5e classes as-is, or are they all re-written to a certain extent? Does it use classic spellcasters' magic concept, or is "magic" absent as an esoteric craft?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

(Not interested in “D&D doesn’t fit sci-fi” responses)

Assuming you accept the premise, would you prefer psionics to be magic reskinned or a totally new system?

I don't need a completely different system like in 2e.

I would want to see different powers, but still balanced the way magic is balanced. So power levels (instead of spell levels) with save DCs that make sense (no stat rolls like in 2e). Sort of like how warlocks are (at least vaguely) balanced compared to wizards; they both belong in the same game.

I would expect to see psionics be worse at things it should be worse at, and better at things it should be better at. Back in 3.5, psionics for direct damage was sometimes better than magic (since psions could switch elements more quickly) which IMO is wrong. They should be good at force damage, and anything else (fire, cold, or electricity) should dish out less damage but have added riders.

I would use the 2e psionics sourcebook for some power ideas, but note that many of those ideas are either too flexible, too powerful or just "wrong" to appear in D&D.

I should spend more time here. This has been sitting here for over two days before I noticed this thread.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Psionics is just Space Magic by another name. No need for a new system.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

Question for @Morrus (and apologies if I missed anything about this in the thread so far): Is the question about psionics in a SF 5e that also has magic, or where magic isn't available, and so psionics sort of fills that supernatural role?

IMO if psionics coexists with magic in 5e I think reskinning is best--avoids subsystem bloat. But if magic isn't in the picture it seems like a great opportunity to finally give psychic powers their due.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Is balancing game needs an argument those wanting reskinning could lean on?

What's the best movie/show with force healing? Is it as good and non-draining as what the cleric does, and does? Does it show up in other classic psionic-using books/shows/movies?

If one thinks something doesn't translate well to a class based system, is the best answer on how to translate it "don't"?

possibly

the Mandalorian of the top of my head, it has a cost but so do all good guy things.
I want the psion so to me making it work with the class system is more the question for me.

Characters with 1 or 2 powers can work in D&D. 4e managed it well.

The issue is D&D tends to shy from directly design one move cheese outside of weapon users.

we are not dealing with 4e thus it might be a bit more of a problem for a largely spelled based system.

I don't need a completely different system like in 2e.

I would want to see different powers, but still balanced the way magic is balanced. So power levels (instead of spell levels) with save DCs that make sense (no stat rolls like in 2e). Sort of like how warlocks are (at least vaguely) balanced compared to wizards; they both belong in the same game.

I would expect to see psionics be worse at things it should be worse at, and better at things it should be better at. Back in 3.5, psionics for direct damage was sometimes better than magic (since psions could switch elements more quickly) which IMO is wrong. They should be good at force damage, and anything else (fire, cold, or electricity) should dish out less damage but have added riders.

I would use the 2e psionics sourcebook for some power ideas, but note that many of those ideas are either too flexible, too powerful or just "wrong" to appear in D&D.

I should spend more time here. This has been sitting here for over two days before I noticed this thread.

that only works for one subclass and we need at least two as that was the minimum set by the sorcerer.
how would you make telekinetic more than one spell of variants of the same spell it would need something more?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

that only works for one subclass and we need at least two as that was the minimum set by the sorcerer.
how would you make telekinetic more than one spell of variants of the same spell it would need something more?

There's more things that can be done with psychokinesis rather than just moving things (though of course there's that). Off the top of my head: spontaneous combustion, concussion/project force/Force Push (this is using force to smack one or more targets, inflicting damage as well as shoving or tripping the opponent, and is similar to using a Ring of the Ram), the gyrator (spin someone so fast they take damage... in the book I saw this in, the target was losing limbs but that should just be flavor text for an opponent killed by the attack; a similar attack might lift a target helpless into the air while crushing them with psychic force), "internal attack" (target suffers from a stroke or ruptured organ, it's another way of doing direct damage to a single target), cryokinesis (target is damaged and also slowed, dazed, becomes more vulnerable to damage or even falls into suspended animation), and subtle (or not so subtle) inertial barriers.

The other obvious choice is telepathy, and if you really want to stretch things a bit, biokinesis and psychoportation.

Edit: going through Complete Psionics 2e, here are some powers that could be converted

Ballistic Attack. This is just using telekinesis to throw a rock, but suitable for a 1st-level or at-will power.
Detonate. Blow something up (the object must be rigid or fragile) and deals damage in a small area of effect.
Dissolution. Disintegrate, but with no beam attack. Unlike in 2e this needs to be a fairly high-level power, at least 7th-level.
Photokinesis: minor illusions (basically Silent Image) or a flash-blind effect. This attack probably does not deal damage, unless the target is particularly vulnerable to light (the undead, etc).
Soften: weaken an object, which could include a barrier such as a wall or door.
Control Body: grab control of a creature and force it to act. It's like mind control but you only control the body. (You can't force the target to cast spells or think of strategies, but it bypasses charm immunity.)

Powers on the borderline: matter manipulation (this is very/too similar to the Fabricate spell), Control Wind (flavorful but might be too limited)

 

[Mind of tempest]

There's more things that can be done with psychokinesis rather than just moving things (though of course there's that). Off the top of my head: spontaneous combustion, concussion/project force/Force Push (this is using force to smack one or more targets, inflicting damage as well as shoving or tripping the opponent, and is similar to using a Ring of the Ram), the gyrator (spin someone so fast they take damage... in the book I saw this in, the target was losing limbs but that should just be flavor text for an opponent killed by the attack; a similar attack might lift a target helpless into the air while crushing them with psychic force), "internal attack" (target suffers from a stroke or ruptured organ, it's another way of doing direct damage to a single target), cryokinesis (target is damaged and also slowed, dazed, becomes more vulnerable to damage or even falls into suspended animation), and subtle (or not so subtle) inertial barriers.

The other obvious choice is telepathy, and if you really want to stretch things a bit, biokinesis and psychoportation.

I will say it again look at mass effect biotic abilities as they would be good for a psychokinesis it even has some blocking abilities.

for telepathy, I would look to 4e ardent for more ideas and humouredly the abilities of pokemon psychics type would work.

go with biokinesis as psychoportation is a one-trick pony, maybe have that as a subtype of another type?

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Hum, I'm curious about that.

Also, does Esper Genesis reuse the 5e classes as-is, or are they all re-written to a certain extent? Does it use classic spellcasters' magic concept, or is "magic" absent as an esoteric craft?

Here is an in-depth review of the core book, including the list of classes and what they are based on from D&D. The only thing I don't really agree on in this is the person labels the Adept as manipulating supernatural power, when everything in the class description is labeled psionic or psychic, though I guess there is a very fine line between what supernatural is and isn't.

Esper Genesis Review

Esper Genesis is an ambitious project that is attempting to utilize the 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons based OGL to create a space opera counterpart to D&D’s fantasy implementation. Like Dungeons and Dragons, the Esper Genesis rules aren’t fully encompassed in a single volume. Just as Dungeons...

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