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

[Laurefindel]

Heh. I always ran it as purely mental. The psion is releasing a great amount of mental energy that washes through the area. In doing so it triggers sounds, smells, and sights in the minds of those nearby. So for example, if a psion is using charm and it sets off the sound of bells, it's triggering the areas of the brain in those nearby so that they "hear" bells. If someone was scrying on that person, they would not hear bells since they are too far away for the energy to affect the brain.

I jest, but in TV comics and mangas, « mind powers are often accompanied by visual and auditory cues. Even if it’s just a wooosh and visible shockwaves, not to mention the psion straining/bracing themselves. These media are not as good to convey olfactory cues but they wouldn’t be hard to imagine.

 

[Remathilis]

I jest, but in TV comics and mangas, « mind powers are often accompanied by visual and auditory cues. Even if it’s just a wooosh and visible shockwaves, not to mention the psion straining/bracing themselves. These media are not as good to convey olfactory cues but they wouldn’t be hard to imagine.

Honestly, the perfect encapsulation of what D&D psionics should look like is right here.

Somatic components flavored as the head tap? Check.
Clear energy visual to show effect? Check.
Grimaced face to show strain and creator of effect? Check.

Simple but fitting a world of high magical ability.

 

[Maxperson]

Honestly, the perfect encapsulation of what D&D psionics should look like is right here.

View attachment 430119

Somatic components flavored as the head tap? Check.
Clear energy visual to show effect? Check.
Grimaced face to show strain and creator of effect? Check.

Simple but fitting a world of high magical ability.

There's no visual in the fiction there, though. Those red circles are for the reader so the reader can visualize what he is doing. IN the fiction they just see him holding his head. Other times he does it without holding his head or grimacing, and no visuals for us.

 

[SkidAce]

Honestly, the perfect encapsulation of what D&D psionics should look like is right here.

View attachment 430119

Somatic components flavored as the head tap? Check.
Clear energy visual to show effect? Check.
Grimaced face to show strain and creator of effect? Check.

Simple but fitting a world of high magical ability.

I always thought that the waves were there to show the viewer (4th wall) and that they were actually not seen by anyone.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Yes, some psionic powers could create special smells, like psychometabolism (too much sweat for example), psychoportation (that faint smell of sulfur when the mutant Nightcrawler is teleporting) or metacreativity (Mmmmmm! it smells like my grandmother's astral constructs!). The display of telepathic powers could be a light headache, not so much to bother you too much, but enough to make you realize and to start to suspect. Psychokinesis could create sounds and visual displays like flashes of light. The display for clarisentience would be eyes roll back.

Now let's imagine the PCs are hired to escort a criminal prisoner with psionic powers toward a maximum security prison.

Other way is to create magic items against one psionic discipline and a linked magic school, for example telepathy and enchantment, psychometabolism and transmutation(only living beings), psychoportation and conjuration, evocation and psychokinesis, clairisentience and divinitation, metacreativity and transmutantion(only inert matter).

 

[Remathilis]

I always thought that the waves were there to show the viewer (4th wall) and that they were actually not seen by anyone.

Well that's hard to tell, especially in comics. Sometimes the energy signatures are commented on as if they are visible, sometimes they are not. For example, Psylocke, when she uses her telepathy, has a purple butterfly appear over her forehead that others have commented on as her signature. Gambit's cards sometimes glow with pink energy and leave a comet tail, while other times they just fly fast and explode with no signature. Depends on the writer, the artist and the medium.

I would assume D&D would be as visible as spellcasting except when specifically called out (IE invisible mage hand). So if the spell calls on a specific visual or audio effect (like knock's loud bang) I would say the psionic version should as well. No more. No less.