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The latest Unearthed Arcana from WotC revisits some psionic rules! “Shine with the power of the mind in this installment of Unearthed Arcana! Today we revisit several psi-themed options that we released in the past few months. Studying your feedback on those options, we’ve crafted this new collection of subclasses, spells, and feats, found in the PDF below.“...
The latest Unearthed Arcana from WotC revisits some psionic rules! “Shine with the power of the mind in this installment of Unearthed Arcana! Today we revisit several psi-themed options that we released in the past few months. Studying your feedback on those options, we’ve crafted this new collection of subclasses, spells, and feats, found in the PDF below.“
I think that's part of my problem with it; it's not really a "resource". I mean, there are some class features that use the die like a resource, but in its standard use it's primarily a buff that you might lose if you're unlucky enough. It's like gaining a fighting style, except you lose it for the day if you roll a 1 on your attack.
def sim rounds=40, restores=0
die_current = die_max = 6
rounds.times do |i|
r = d(die_current)
if r == die_current and die_current == 4
if restores > 0
die_current = die_max
restores -= 1
else
return i
end
elsif r == die_current
die_current -= 2
elsif r == 1 and die_current != die_max
die_current += 2
end
end
return rounds
end
sims = 100000.times.map do |r|
sim rounds, restores
end; nil
puts "Can use the talent die every round in #{((sims.count { |x| x == rounds }).to_f) * 100 / 100000}% days"
puts "Average uses per day: #{sims.sum / 100000}. Median uses per day: #{sims.sort[sims.count/2]}"
Let's work on some assumptions. The Psi Knight is the subclass who has the greatest opportunity to use their die - up to twice per round, if they use the damage bonus and the reaction. I'm also assuming the 6-8 encounter day, with around 5 rounds per encounter and two encounters per short rest. So, 40 rounds of combat. That's a fair estimate based on a few games I've run, played in and observed - it won't be correct for everyone, but I hope it will do.
So. With a d6 talent die, how many rounds can a Psi Knight expect to be able to use their power? 27. About one day in four, the power will last through the entire day. Comparing that to a battlemaster... A battlemaster gets four superiority dice every short rest, so will expect to have 16 uses of superiority dice through the day. However, the superiority die is usually going to be adding d8 damage, while the talent die adds either d4 or d6. Going with a simple assumption that all the uses are for damage as a guideline (this obviously won't be perfect, but it's to get a feel for the expected balance of the two subclasses), 16 uses of a d8 will be around 72 extra damage. Half the time the talent die will be a d6 and half a d4. Assuming 14 d6 and 13d4, we get 81.5 damage.
... Actually, I just spotted something. With the 6-8 encounter day, the battlemaster gets basically 2 uses of dice per combat. If you keep your usage of the talent die to three uses per encounter, then you end up with 24 uses per day. If you do that... then your median uses per day is 24. You end up not running out on 57% of days. And if you again assume that of those 24 rounds, half of the time you have a d6 and half a d4... then your expected additional damage works out to exactly 72. The same as the battlemaster.
So looking at that... It's probably going to work out about the same as a battlemaster, but you can try to push things more at the risk of running out. The Psi Knight is more long-rest based, so encounter numbers will affect the power levels. The battlemaster will be more dependable when you have more encounters, and the Psi Knight can nova better when you have few.
Obviously there are a lot of assumptions in the above, and this sort of theorycraft doesn't always actually work out in play. I've done some limited playtesting with these builds in a fairly artificial way and I like the feel, but it's going to need real play to be sure.
I think the core main thing they are giving up is psi/power points as the main resource.
They are testing it as a secondary resource in the sorcerer and seeing if people are okay with it. If it tests well, they might bring back a psionic based class.
But this all looks like a way to pull "warrior" and "skillmonkey" psionic subclasses into core classes and away from the base "caster" psionic character.
The whole UA reeks of "psi points can't work as a primary resource and key tag for psionics. Let's try something else"
I sometimes think they have seller's remorse over giving sorcerers and monks points. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a 5.5e (or 5e version of Pathfinder Unchained) if, instead of chi, monks got "martial arts" some of which were at will, but most having a level 1-9 and the table of when you get new "martial arts" looking very familiar. But on the plus side, you stop at a monastery or hang out with another monk for a week and you can pick up some free "martial arts", each path with have bonus "martial arts", and they will make a lot more new stuff for existing monks then they do now.
Edit: almost forgot, your material components will include num-chucks.
That would probably be demoralising in play, though, and lead to hoarding of abilities for a special moment. I definitely prefer this approach - it's balanced well against the other subclasses, but it will be very distinct in play.
Hmm. That's how I was reading it the first time.
Maybe that's a reason I'm more enthused about the subclass than others?
(Or maybe I'm just really taken with that psychic whispers ability and want to build entire characters I'll never get to play around it
dnd.wizards.com
+1
