Remember what we're actually talking about: comparing psion powers to wizard spells. If you think it's okay that wizards can do some things better and worse than clerics, then you shouldn't have a problem with psions doing some things better and worse than wizards.
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http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...ics-and-Mystics-Take-Two/page32#ixzz40TLQy1tx
Ok, let's run with this then. I actually do agree with this in principle anyway. Wizards are obviously better at blasting than clerics. Clerics are obviously better at healing than wizards. Fair enough. That's the niche for the classes.
But, my question is, why is the baseline being represented by spells which break the guidelines. Actually, no, let me rephrase that. Why is the baseline being represented by the only two spells out of the dozens of spells available, that break the guidelines?
Take the example of Contact Other Plane vs Divination. Divination gives you one specific question about a single event or activity within the next 7 days and a cumulative 25% chance for getting a misleading answer if you cast it again. Contact Other Plane gives you 5 questions, but, a chance of taking a good chunk of damage and being insane for the day. Is Divination inherently better than Contact Other Plane? Well, maybe in some circumstances, but, since you have to ask a very specific question with Divination, it's very limited in utility. It's useless as an information gathering spell for things that you don't have a lot of knowledge about already. OTOH, I can sit at home, start using Contact Other Plane to gather intelligence about some enemy's home or plans and, so long as I make my Int save (which can be buffed beforehand) I can keep casting the spell all day long. It is, after all, a ritual. So, the cleric hits me with a Resistance spell before I start out, maybe an Enhance Ability spell too. Wizards have proficiency on Int saves, so, I've got probably at least a +8 on my saving throw (18 Int for a 9th level wizard is hardly unreasonable, +4 for proficiency bonus). Toss in a couple of buffs and I basically can't fail the save except on a 1.
So, is Divination strictly better than Contact Other Plane? No, not even a little. Divination gives you one answer about one specific event and that's it. Contact Other Plane lets me research an entire dungeon and play Twenty Questions (well, okay, 5 questions
) with my DM. Which makes sense, it is a higher level spell, it should work better. And, yes, it in fact does.
I have no issue with the idea of Psions having niche's. This whole tangent started as a discussion between Mind Meld and Message. Both are Cantrips and both have things the other can't do. Fair enough. Mind Meld lets me talk with anything (although it's only one way - but, I could see this as a HUGE advantage when dealing with animals or the like), whereas Message doesn't require line of effect. It's essentially a Walkie Talkie for short distances. Depending on the campaign, either could be very, very useful. Which is as it should be - that's the point of niche's.
What we shouldn't do, IMO, though, is look at spells which obviously break guidelines and then build to that. That's just power creep. If every Mystic Power is flat out better than every other similar power from another class, there's no reason to play those other classes. It's unbalancing. Situationally better is fine. That's no problem. But, flat out better? That's poor game design. No option should always be better than every other option.
Since Fireball and Lightning Bolt break the design guidelines, but, apparently, no other school of magic gets this, then, fireball and lightning bolt are mistakes. There's no reason why they do the extra damage. When choosing between a 3rd level area damaging spell and a 4th level area damaging spell, it should be no contest - the 4th level spell should be straight up better in all ways. That's WHY it's a 4th level spell. There's a reason we use higher level spells. They are supposed to be better than lower level spells. By ignoring the design guidelines, you futz with the whole system and that's a bad thing.
