Hardhead
Explorer
I haven't seen another thread do this, so I thougt I'd do a quick sumary for everyone about what we know.
Expanded? More Like Rebuilt: The name is misleading. This is not an "expanded" version of 3.0 psionics. It has, in many ways, been reworked from the ground up for 3.5.
Scaling Powers: Psions will still know very few powers (maybe even less than they do now, which is less than even Sorcerers), but these powers will scale up. For instance, instead of a Lesser Domination, a Domination, a Dominate Monster, a True Domination, and a Thrall, there'll probably be just one Domination power. By spending additional power points, you can increase the DC of a power, and additional damage to a power, or provide other nifty effects. You can't spend more PP on a power than half your manifester level.
MAD no more: Multiple Ability Dependency is gone. Instead, Psionics will work more like other spellcasters. Each class will have a single score that determines all of their powers' DC. Psions will use Intelligence, and Wilders will use Charisma. It is unkown what the score for Psychic Warriors and Soulknives will be. There will be a base class in the next Dragon called the Erudite. Probabally, they'll manifest off of Wisdom.
DC Without Dice: You don't roll to set your power DC anymore. It's just 10+power level+ability modifier, just like everyone else.
Specialization Continued: To help keep psions different from each other, each will still be forced to specialize in one discipline, and each discipline will have it's own power list with unique powers.
New Base Classes: There will be four twenty level base classes. In addition to the Psion and the Psychic Warrior, there will be the Wilder, who will manifest off of Charisma, have a d6 HD, medium BAB progression, and the ability to scale powers beyond what a psion is capable of at their level, though they risk overloading themselves when they do this. The Soulknife has all but officially been confirmed, but not much is known about it. It was a Prestige Class in 3.0 psionics, and is basically going to be a rouge with some psychic powers, kind of like how the Psychic Warrior is a fighter with some psychic powers.
Psychic Combat: We've been told that the many issues with psychic combat are "no longer an issue" in the 3.5 version, but we know little more. For what it's worth, in his Malhavoc Press book, Mindscapes, Bruce Cordel turned all the former Combat and Defense Modes into standard psionic powers.
New Races: It will feature at least one new race: The Half-Giant, originally from Darksun. I would personally bet on seeing PC writeups for the Gith as well, but that's just a guess.
Monsters and PP: Monsters still don't use PP to manifest "psi-like abilities."
Psionic Focus: Feats that required you to keep PP in reserve are gone. Instead, they require "psionic focus," which requires mediation to attain. The catch? Some feats require you to expend your psychic focus to make them work (for instance, a metapsionic feat can be a bit cheaper than a metamagic feat if it requires this, because it basically means you can only do it once per battle). A psion basically needs to decide which feats (expending or maintaing their focus) they want to use.
There's probably been a couple other tidbits leaked, but I can't think of them at the moment.
Expanded? More Like Rebuilt: The name is misleading. This is not an "expanded" version of 3.0 psionics. It has, in many ways, been reworked from the ground up for 3.5.
Scaling Powers: Psions will still know very few powers (maybe even less than they do now, which is less than even Sorcerers), but these powers will scale up. For instance, instead of a Lesser Domination, a Domination, a Dominate Monster, a True Domination, and a Thrall, there'll probably be just one Domination power. By spending additional power points, you can increase the DC of a power, and additional damage to a power, or provide other nifty effects. You can't spend more PP on a power than half your manifester level.
MAD no more: Multiple Ability Dependency is gone. Instead, Psionics will work more like other spellcasters. Each class will have a single score that determines all of their powers' DC. Psions will use Intelligence, and Wilders will use Charisma. It is unkown what the score for Psychic Warriors and Soulknives will be. There will be a base class in the next Dragon called the Erudite. Probabally, they'll manifest off of Wisdom.
DC Without Dice: You don't roll to set your power DC anymore. It's just 10+power level+ability modifier, just like everyone else.
Specialization Continued: To help keep psions different from each other, each will still be forced to specialize in one discipline, and each discipline will have it's own power list with unique powers.
New Base Classes: There will be four twenty level base classes. In addition to the Psion and the Psychic Warrior, there will be the Wilder, who will manifest off of Charisma, have a d6 HD, medium BAB progression, and the ability to scale powers beyond what a psion is capable of at their level, though they risk overloading themselves when they do this. The Soulknife has all but officially been confirmed, but not much is known about it. It was a Prestige Class in 3.0 psionics, and is basically going to be a rouge with some psychic powers, kind of like how the Psychic Warrior is a fighter with some psychic powers.
Psychic Combat: We've been told that the many issues with psychic combat are "no longer an issue" in the 3.5 version, but we know little more. For what it's worth, in his Malhavoc Press book, Mindscapes, Bruce Cordel turned all the former Combat and Defense Modes into standard psionic powers.
New Races: It will feature at least one new race: The Half-Giant, originally from Darksun. I would personally bet on seeing PC writeups for the Gith as well, but that's just a guess.
Monsters and PP: Monsters still don't use PP to manifest "psi-like abilities."
Psionic Focus: Feats that required you to keep PP in reserve are gone. Instead, they require "psionic focus," which requires mediation to attain. The catch? Some feats require you to expend your psychic focus to make them work (for instance, a metapsionic feat can be a bit cheaper than a metamagic feat if it requires this, because it basically means you can only do it once per battle). A psion basically needs to decide which feats (expending or maintaing their focus) they want to use.
There's probably been a couple other tidbits leaked, but I can't think of them at the moment.
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