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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 722892" data-attributes="member: 3051">Played both.Both have big advantages and disadvantages.  Personally, Psion ended up being more my style, but YMMV.Here's the differences I can see.  The best way to express it is to use Sorcerer as baseline and then talk about the Psion.PLUSSES:> 2 extra skill points per level goes a long way> The ability to pick which stat you want to depend on, instead of being stuck with CHA.  Shapers (INT) are great, and not just because you get even more skill points.> Access to Psionic Feats, like Inertial Armor or Speed of Thought> No extra casting time for metamagicked spells> More flexibility in casting, of course.  It's the reason you took the class in the first place.> Some good divinations and utility spells are at a lower level than for Sorcerers (and many aren't available for Sorcerers at all, being based on divine spells)> No material components.  "Identify" becomes MUCH better without all them pearls.  Or, Mass Cocoon (the psionic Forcecage) without the 1500gp component?  Very, very scary.  Besides, not carrying bat guano makes the whole camp smell better.> No verbal/somatic components.  Being Held or Silenced doesn't stop you from using your powers.  It also means you can cast in armor with no problems, assuming you find a way to get an armor proficiency.> Psionic attack modes can be useful for stunning people> Free Talents.  They may be mostly useless, but there's a lot of them.  If you use the Mind's Eye stuff, there are many better ones there, as well as Feats that let you use them for other things.MINUSES:> The damage powers aren't good.  First, they don't scale with level.   Second, most are single-target.  Third, they're weak to begin with.For example, comparing Whitefire to Fireball: same level, range, area... the only difference is damage (5d4 vs Cd6 means the Fireball does 3 times as much damage at level 10)Now, some have other useful abilities (Concussion spells dealing subdual damage), but overall?  Meh.> You need to keep several stats high.  By the time you're casting 5th-level powers, you've effectively specialized down to one or two disciplines.  It gets even worse once you get higher.  (Note: using the "secondary disciplines" rules from outside sources stops this)Under a high-powered rolling system, no problem, but with point-buy this is really hard.> For some ridiculous reason, Craft and Profession aren't class skills for all types, unlike practically every other core class.> Save DC: 1d20+stat instead of 10+.  Randomness tends to hurt more than help.  Yet another reason not to use offensive spells allowing a saving throw.  While it allows you to get insane DCs on a good day, a bad day can kill you.> Sorcerers can just cast lots more spells.  They can afford to throw spells all the time; Psions have the spells/day below a generalist Wizard, even if you count the extra Talents.  Now, granted, at the end of the day my Sorcerer would often have certain spell levels full of unused slots (2nd) while others (3rd) ran dry quickly.> Many good arcane spells just aren't available for Psions, like Polymorph Other.  In other cases, the psionic version is weaker.> Psionic displays are much harder to hide than the verbal/somatic components of arcane spells.  You just accept after a while that everyone will know when you cast something.> Psionic combat tends to hurt you more than help if the DM throws psionic enemies at you.> Psicrystals aren't as much fun as familiars.  Which would you rather have: a ferret, or a gem that sits in your pocket?There's more, like an ongoing debate about whether Astral Constructs are superior to the Summon Monster spells.  Also, it depends on how integrated your DM makes Psionics and Magic; for example, can Use Magic Device allow you to wear a psionic tattoo?  Do the item crafting Psionic Feats allow you to make DMG items if psionics has a similar power?I think the rest of these guys have covered the basics.  They're both fun classes, although the Sorcerer needs a bit of alteration to stay "fun".  If you like the raw Fireball-throwin' damage dealer, you have to go Sorcerer.  Psionics are great for more subtle characters.Oh, and the purely metagaming answer:> Psionics isn't core, so it's harder to get the DM to approve any new material you need.  While the other classes are getting spells and PrCs from official WotC splatbooks, you're looking at the Mind's Eye, If Thoughts Could Kill, etc.</blockquote>

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