D&D General So… psionic powers are no longer purely mental?

[Charlaquin]

When there is deep disagreement, on the other hand, it is completely nonfunctional. That's why they tried like four shots at fixing/changing the Ranger (and Sorcerer...and Monk...and Warlock...), why they tried like three or four times to create a Psion, etc., etc.

I agree with your post overall, but we do have some additional context about this now. According to @mearls, the original intent for Unearthed Arcana had been to use it to live-playtest updates to the core package and patch 5e over time, so that a hypothetical future edition change would feel like a natural next step in an ongoing revision process instead of an abrupt changeover. Unfortunately, due to some higher-ups panicking about playtesting changes so early in the edition’s run allegedly displaying lack of confidence in the ruleset, the process pretty quickly got hijacked into mostly just being a marketing tool instead of an actual playtesting tool. They gave up on the revised Ranger and Scion not because they couldn’t get the community to agree on anything, but because corporate bozos (possibly one specific corporate bozo!) thought that openly seeking community feedback about changes to the rules would make them look bad and pulled the plug.

 

[Charlaquin]

Thats a issue.

But the biggest one is that D&D has 4 different histories for psioinics and the fans are split between about 4 ideas that cannot be combined NOR does wotc want to make 4 new mechanics.

1) Far Realm Struggling Tentacles and Claws Psychic
2) Psionic Spell Slot Wizard
3) Power Point Goey Psion
4) Mind Psuedoscience Psionicist

Nah, the real issue is that Hazbro suits are so out of touch they think asking the players for feedback on the direction of the game is a bad look.

 

[Minigiant]

Nah, the real issue is that Hazbro suits are so out of touch they think asking the players for feedback on the direction of the game is a bad look.

Hasbro suits dont design.

There is feedback from players to WOTC.

The issue is the feedback for psionics splits in 4 mutually exclusive directions and WOTC doesnt pump out 20 books a year like 3e and 4e to fit 4 types of fully supported psionics it.

There are people who want spells with no Vand S. Some people who want all new psionic powers. And Some peonic who want psi powers AND power points.

THEN you have flavor: Psuedo Sci-fi, Old times Paranormal, Religous Mysticism, Goo and Crystals, or Far Realm and Old Gods.

 

[Charlaquin]

Hasbro suits dont design.

No, but they do tell the designers, “stop using Unearthed Arcana to test meaningful new rules changes. From now on, it’s just a way to build hype for the next ‘of everything’ book.”

There are people who want spells with no Vand S. Some people who want all new psionic powers. And Some peonic who want psi powers AND power points.
THEN you have flavor: Psuedo Sci-fi, Old times Paranormal, Religous Mysticism, Goo and Crystals, or Far Realm and Old Gods.

The thing is, all of that could be incorporated into subclasses of a psion class and/or psionic subclasses of existing classes. That was the direction Mearls was taking psionics on the Happy Fun Hour before the knee-jerk decision was made to stop using UA to do actual playtesting.

 

[Minigiant]

No, but they do tell the designers, “stop using Unearthed Arcana to test meaningful new rules changes. From now on, it’s just a way to build hype for the next ‘of everything’ book.”

My point is that even if they didnt do that, psionics is too split in desire for WOTC to coalesce their design around anything but "magic with no V&S".

Psionics at this point is a "Do what you want or you'll never make the deadline" mechanic. It would take 20+ external surveys to get it right.

 

[Sulicius]

I think it's a great solution. Sure, there's some solid 3rd party psionics available, but I appreciate if they release a psionic class that my players don't have to relearn the game for.

Too many spells already have psionic flavor, I am not interested in seeing a new system where all of that is published with a small twist, and we have to compare the rules every time it is used.

I'm quite optimistic about the UA psion, but I just haven't them something I'd include in my settings.

 

[Charlaquin]

My point is that even if they didnt do that, psionics is too split in desire for WOTC to coalesce their design around anything but "magic with no V&S".
Psionics at this point is a "Do what you want or you'll never make the deadline" mechanic. It would take 20+ external surveys to get it right.

So? If it takes 20 surveys it takes 20 surveys. If it takes 100, it takes 100. It’s not like there’s anything stopping them from giving g it as many passes as they need.

Except, you know, the guy who said “stop doing that and use Unearthed Arcana to advertise our next big book of subclasses instead.”

 

[Minigiant]

So? If it takes 20 surveys it takes 20 surveys. If it takes 100, it takes 100. It’s not like there’s anything stopping them from giving g it as many passes as they need.

Most companies won't let designers do 20 surveys, each with a month or 2 roll over, unless its a major part of their profit generation.

Thats the point.

Taking 3 years to design psionics is never gonna fly unless its a core aspect of the game.

 

[Corinnguard]

Yup. MCDM has the Talent, A5E has both the Voidrunner's Codex psions AND @Steampunkette 's Esper from Paranormal Power, pretty sure laserllama has something out cuz he just seems to make everything, and who knows how many homebrew versions.

Yes, Laser Llama does happen to have a Psion class.

The Psion Class by laserllama

The Psion Class by laserllama - Created with GM Binder.

www.gmbinder.com

He also has a psionic subclass for his Alternate Ranger. The Nomad

Whether by birth, happenstance, or a ritual, the mind of every Nomad has been connected to the mystical web of knowledge known as the Noosphere. This psionic link allows Nomads to access knowledge from far-off places and distant lives. These strange wanderers spend their lives collecting hidden lore to add to this web of information that connects every Nomad.

I thought psionic powers were purely mental, as opposed to magic, which requires gesticulation, shouting and the blood of a virgin ox.

In PF1's Occult Adventures, psionics was just another form of magic. Psychic Magic. Unlike other forms of magic, psychic magic had two spell components of its' own. Thought and Emotion. You literally had to put some thoughts and feelings into the spell your player was casting.

 

[Silam]

The most recent version of Psion is a spellcaster, so the spells have the typical components. But the class itself has this provision:

I assume for somatic they're imagining something like Professor X holding his hand to his head.
View attachment 429871

Ah! Thanks! I skimmed most of the doc but missed that

Well, at least they get Silent and Eschew Materials Metamagics for free. Not sure why they need to also make a salute in order to think harder, but hey, we’ll take it I guess?

As for spells with costly components… they could have simply sidestepped the issue by not giving those spells to the Psion’s spell list in the first place

I personally played with the 3.5 XPH rule saying that Detect Psionics also detects magic and vice versa, so I don’t mind that they’re adjacent phenomenons… but if Psions don’t even shed the components, then it’s like they’re basically the same as Sorcerers.