Psionics- Where to Start?

[Psion]

I don't know if I'd say many, although I will agree there were some useful feats.

Most of the racial feats could have been bundled into a single feat "Enhanced Psi-Like Ability" - pick one racial psi-like ability, get 2 extra uses per day. The same as the mind blade feats you already mentioned.

Sure, but some, like enhancement to the elan's save and damage reduction abilities don't lend themselves well to a unified feat.

 

[Nifft]

That, I disagree with. I saw many very useful feats, particularly the ones aimed at specific races or classes, as well as the likes of master dorje and dual dorje wielder.

I might be overdoing the vitriol regarding the feats. The ones that I hated were:
- Mindblade shape feats (20 ways to suck!)
- Illithid Heritage feats (we make no sense in terms of flavor, and don't provide enough mechanics to work!)
- Astral Construct feats (we made this power suck for no reason, but here, you can pay to make it suck differently!)

... in retrospect, I agree some of the racial ones were good.

Thanks, -- N

 

[DragonLancer]

If I want to introduce Psionics to a game, what is the first book I should get?

You need the Xpanded Psionics Handbook, and thats all you need. However I seriously recommend adding the Complete Psionics and Hyperconciousness. Those three are all the pisonic material I'll ever need.

 

[Psion]

I might be overdoing the vitriol regarding the feats. The ones that I hated were:
- Mindblade shape feats (20 ways to suck!)
- Illithid Heritage feats (we make no sense in terms of flavor, and don't provide enough mechanics to work!)
- Astral Construct feats (we made this power suck for no reason, but here, you can pay to make it suck differently!)

Yeah, not a big fan of those either. One of the big reasons I disdain 4e is the scuttling of previous convention. Illithids have a lot of established backstory about how they work... and the legacy feats don't fit that. Illithidkin was actually an idea that worked with the idea instead of flying in the face of it... these, however, make no sense.

Just another example of rules driving the game instead of supporting it.

 

[Klaus]

Fixed that for you.

Cheers, -- N

I'll have to disagree. Any book that has a class named "Ebon Saint" is a good book.

As for the mindblade feats, here, use my variant:

Unorthodox Mindblade [Psionic]
Your subconscious allows you to shape your mind blade differently
Requirements: Mind Blade class feature, Weapon Focus (one weapon other than Mind Blade)
Benefit: When invoking your mind blade, you have the option of shaping it as a weapon for which you have taken the Weapon Focus feat. If you take new Weapon Focus feats after taking this feat, you add those weapons to the list of weapons your mind blade can be shaped as.

 

[irdeggman]

Use the racial substitution levels for Kalashtar (from Races of Eberron) - all good.

One of my favorites is the Kalashtar soulknife substitution levels and the feats in the Races book.

 

[Nifft]

I'm not going to deny that there's good stuff in Complete Psionic. There is some good stuff.

But as a book, it's worse than useless to me. Why? Because it's less than half usable. Adding it to my game would add a lot of work for me, because I'd end up doing the jobs that the QA and editing teams were supposed to do. I can't hand it to a player and say, here, take a look at this. (I'd be happy to do that with Dragon Magic, or Complete Mage, even though I'm not about to allow every option in either of those books -- the options that I consider bad are very small compared to the number of options in the whole book.)

The Lurk and Ebon Saint seemed okay, but didn't do much for me -- my campaign has had Psychic Ninjae since day 1.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Nonlethal Force]

The Expanded Psionics Handbook is all you need. Period. And, as far as picking up the Complete Psionic for a few power nerfs, just reread this thread in a few days and they'll all be mentioned, probably. Then you don't need to buy a book that is about a 4 or 5 out of 10.

Bacris will never say it, but the supplement that I would buy regarding psionics is Untapped Potential. Plus, Dreamscarred Press often runs a pdf bundle pack that gets you Untapped Potential and another source for under $20. I'm pretty sure I got Mind Divine and Untapped Potential for $20, and it was well worth the purchase. [For that matter, I've also since had a fair amount of fun with the Supplement that they've put out about the Talon of the Thrush, too.]

But honestly, buy the XPH (and any necessary Eberron material if you need it). If you like it, look at Untapped potential. Cool pdf.

 

[Aus_Snow]

My picks for psionics, to use in D&D 3e / d20 fantasy:

Expanded Psionics Handbook
Untapped Potential (available in print too, I believe)
Hyperconscious (from Malhavoc Press, by the way)

There are some other sources, like Complete Psionic and some Eberron books, that can add a bit here and there, too.

 

[Dark Psion]

Ummm there is also The Mind's Eye and it's free.