D&D General What’s The Big Deal About Psionics?

[James Gasik]

The cost of broadening spells via multiclass, is slowing down access to higher level slots, and losing out on the highest slots.

Yes, but upcasting does alleviate some of that sting.

 

[Yaarel]

The bolded part isn't true. D&D has had different systems for psionics and other classes, so new mechanics for something is D&D......................if it's in D&D.

This thread has looked into the 2e Psionicist and its weird mechanics.

Nobody in this thread thinks those 2e mechanics are a good idea.

Even the forumer who advocated them has radically modified them, and is actually advocating for his own homebrew system.

Every proposal for a weird psionic mechanic in this thread is not D&D.

 

[Minigiant]

The cost of broadening spells via multiclass, is slowing down access to higher level slots, and losing out on the highest slots.

People don't even play D&D to high enough levels that it matters.

If your caster isn't a blaster, you don't lose much untill level 11.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Flavor matters. Many of the necessary Psion mechanics are missing. Many of the Wizard mechanics are wrong and disruptive. I like less Sorcerer mechanics. Psionics is any mental ability.

Can you help me understand what is missing other than refluffing? What is wrong with a Tasha sorc other than fluff? You cast psionic spells, you get spell points, etc. It's essentially the 3E psion using Cha instead of Int for spell DC.

 

[Maxperson]

With the 5e multiclassing rules, not so much the slots for the multiclass caster (as my kid discovered when I pointed them at the multiclass rules for their Ranger/Druid that they'd neglected when they made their character - their 5th level character has access to 2nd level spell slots despite their 3rd level Ranger or 2nd level Druid not having 2nd level spells).

They do lose out on higher level spells in their classes, but the slots are still there, so they can at least upcast lower level spells with those slots.

That's still diminished power at the higher levels. A lot of us do play games into the teens and level 20.

 

[Maxperson]

This thread has looked into the 2e Psionicist and its weird mechanics.

Nobody in this thread thinks those 2e mechanics are a good idea.

Even the forumer who advocated them has radically modified them, and is actually advocating for his own homebrew system.

Every proposal for a weird psionic mechanic in this thread is not D&D.

The 3e psionic system was also a new system. It wasn't just point based spells. And every one of the proposals is D&D if it makes it into the rulebooks.

 

[Yaarel]

Yes, but upcasting does alleviate some of that sting.

What upcasting? They lack the access to the higher level slots of every class because of the lack of focus in one class.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

They aren't cognizant of it.
They are actually supporters of the problem as a shortcut.

That's my whole point.

Then they aren't going to design a separate parallel magic system to solve a problem they are not even aware of, are they?

 

[Yaarel]

People don't even play D&D to high enough levels that it matters.

If your caster isn't a blaster, you don't lose much untill level 11.

A level 5 Sorcerer has access to higher level spells than does a multiclass Sorcerer 3 / Paladin 2.

 

[Yaarel]

The 3e psionic system was also a new system. It wasn't just point based spells. And every one of the proposals is D&D if it makes it into the rulebooks.

The 3e Psion is both spell slots and spontaneous casting, both of which preexist it.