The Awakened Psion (Dragon Article)

[Greg K]

Just out of curiousity, what were the other Unearthed Arcana articles?

 

[Scribble]

Just out of curiousity, what were the other Unearthed Arcana articles?

I believe there was only one- it was about curses. Use the disease track kind of to simulate curses.

 

[Klaus]

With Dragons new(continuing?) emphasis on actually having zero content, this article fits right in. I suppose it would be some nice lite reading in between really juicy articles....but it just comes across as a waste of space in the current atmosphere. I hate to say this, since he's the only author they actually publish, but Schwalb really needs to leave Dragon before his rep gets pulled down by the crap around him.

Not only are Rob's articles consistently good, this article is downright excellent. It offers flavor-heavy mechanics that don't require the Character Builder to be implemented and really differentiates the psion from possibly similar classes, like the Enchantment-focused wizard.

 

[Mengu]

Two things.

1. These are not the kinds of articles I want to see in Dragon. As a player, it's completely useless to me. Nice fluff, blah blah, but I want something I can put on my character sheet. Dragon content has gotten exceedingly spotty for actual crunch. I realize it's a thin line to walk between rules bloat and useful content, but they've been on the opposite extreme from bloat for a while, and it's time to swing a bit more toward some usable crunch.

2. The article gave me ideas to use in my game, tweaking certain encounters where PC's will be able to dig into deeper reserves when in dire straits. So I give the article two thumbs up in that respect.

Overall I'll call this a good article with bad timing.

 

[Oulak]

Two things.
...

Overall I'll call this a good article with bad timing.

I completely respect this opinion, but I have to disagree with it. I think any article released that is good has good timing.

 

[MrMyth]

Overall I'll call this a good article with bad timing.

Yeah, thus far this month, Dragon has had... backgrounds, rare items, and a single paragon path for player content. Plus some guidelines on improvising powers and this article on unofficial content. Any one or two of those on their own would be fine, and even enhance otherwise normal content, but as the only thing we've gotten? Not a great situation.

That said, I found this a great article. I might try to use it in an upcoming game, or something along these lines - offer each character something 'unique' that goes a bit beyond their normal abilities, but with the potential for some amount of risk. A wizard might be able to actually learn extra spells in his spellbook, old school style (though still limited to the normal number of spells per day) - but if he loses his spellbook, he's in trouble. The psion can mess with people's minds - but risks losing his own in the process. Etc.

I think UA is the right place for this, of course - anything this involved with story elements requires a bit of DM discretion. I can see the frustration for those who think this would be great for their RPGA character and are out of luck... but you can still try running with it. Ask your DM how they feel about it, and basically try and pull off these sorts of abilities as 'stunts' - voluntarily taking on the consequences of your own volition.

Some DMs might still say no, just due to the extra complexity of it all, but I imagine others will be willing to run with it, just like they would be fine with the fighter tackling people through windows and doing other physical stunts.

 

[Destil]

Any article that adds options for the game that doesn't add to feat/power bloat is good in my eyes. I've already got 300+ options for my 1st level feat, I don't need more.

 

[Marshall]

Then you arent playing the classes that actually need support, of which there are at least a half-dozen.
...and you arent playing the classes that essentials just trashed...see Swordmage and Artificer.

Frankly, My Runepriest, Sorcerer and Changeling all could use some REAL crunch.

 

[Aegeri]

Any article that adds options for the game that doesn't add to feat/power bloat is good in my eyes

Unless you're a class that has had absolutely nothing and is begging for any kind of support.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

What needs to happen, clearly, is the forced retirement of a lot of the crufty, situational, weak, and garbage feats that nobody takes.

Then adding more, with a level of appeal and power comparable to the essentials feats, both for popular and also the underserviced classes and races won't be as problematic.