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

[SkidAce]

Just another example of the long-term trend toward homogenizing everything to work under the same core mechanics with only the labels varying.

Do you play and/or enjoy the game FATE by Evil Hat?

 

[SkidAce]

If psionics didn't have verbal, somatic and material components, what would its' use look like during a game session? It wouldn't be two individuals rushing towards each other with weapons drawn, some fancy footwork and the clash of steel. It wouldn't be like an arcane caster muttering words in some esoteric or ancient language, making elaborate hand gestures with one hand and holding an object in the other hand. Or a priest closing their eyes while calling for their deity for their aid.

It probably would be two individuals locked into a staring contest. The fight all in their heads where no one else would see it.

Cool!

And if it distracted them and a thief snuck up behind one? Hehe...

 

[Corinnguard]

It probably would be two individuals locked into a staring contest. The fight all in their heads where no one else would see it.

Ex. That scene from the first Dune movie where Alia forced the head of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood into telling everyone who her brother was. No spoken words, hand gestures or items in use. Just a look before the Bene Gesserit cried out in pain and demanded someone to kill Alia.

In @Steampunkette 's Paranormal Power, the fight would have taken place in a mindscape of the combatant's own minds.

 

[Remathilis]

If psionics didn't have verbal, somatic and material components, what would its' use look like during a game session? It wouldn't be two individuals rushing towards each other with weapons drawn, some fancy footwork and the clash of steel. It wouldn't be like an arcane caster muttering words in some esoteric or ancient language, making elaborate hand gestures with one hand and holding an object in the other hand. Or a priest closing their eyes while calling for their deity for their aid.

It probably would be two individuals locked into a staring contest. The fight all in their heads where no one else would see it.

It's worth noting that psionic spells don't require Somatic components, it just doesn't remove them. So a spell like Command which only has Verbal components actually does have none when used as a psion.

I should really go though the psion UA and see what spells they have actually have S or costly M. I wager there is a fair amount that have no components.

 

[Remathilis]

I should really go though the psion UA and see what spells they have actually have S or costly M. I wager there is a fair amount that have no components.

Here is a list of spells levels 0-3, excluding subclass spells.
Light
Mind Sliver
Command
Dissonant Whispers
Feather Fall
Blindness/Deafness
Ego Whip
Knock
Suggestion
Tasha's Mind Whip
Intellect Fortress
Telekinetic Crush
Tongues

That's a fair amount of spells that have no components when used by a psion.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

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

Or Darryl Revok tilting his head slightly and grimacing. (I don't know why, but that movie was always my touchstone for psionics.)