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

[Yaarel]

Anchored Navigation used as normal is 7 power points, but it can be augmented for 6 more and it will extend across planes.

For 5e.

ANCHORED NAVIGATION
4th-level conjuration
...
At higher levels. When you cast this spell using a slot 3 levels higher, Anchored Navigation extends across planes.

Animal Affinity used as normal is 3 power points, but for each additional 5 points you get +4 to another ability score.

Because of 5e bounded accuracy, the Animal Affinity spell no longer exists, but it is equivalent to the 5e Enhance Ability spell. The following is a hypothetical for what the Animal Affinity spell might have looked like.

ANIMAL AFFINITY
2nd-level transmutation
...
At higher levels. When you cast this spell using a higher spell slot:
For each 2 slot levels higher, you can target an additional creature.
For each 3 slot levels higher, you add +4 to a different ability score.

 

[Maxperson]

For 5e.

ANCHORED NAVIGATION
4th-level conjuration
...
At higher levels. When you cast this spell using a slot 3 levels higher, Anchored Navigation extends across planes.



Because of 5e bounded accuracy, the Animal Affinity spell no longer exists, but it is equivalent to the 5e Enhance Ability spell. The following is a hypothetical for what the Animal Affinity spell might have looked like.

ANIMAL AFFINITY
2nd-level transmutation
...
At higher levels. When you cast this spell using a higher spell slot:
For each 2 slot levels higher, you can target an additional creature.
For each 3 slot levels higher, you add +4 to a different ability score.

You're inventing stuff. Those don't exist in 5e.

What you've just invented would be great psionic augments for a unique psionic class, but they don't represent augments = at higher levels. As things stand 3e augments =/= 5e at higher levels.

 

[Maxperson]

I mean that multiclassing casters only hurts blasters and healers. Neither are primary roles of wizards nor psions. So a potential wizard/psion loses little because by the time it really matters, 80% of campaigns are over.

Multiclassing hurts any pure caster who loses out on higher levels spells, because a 5th level spell slot < 5th level spell. What multiclassing does is give some increased versatility, which while good, isn't as good as the higher level spells the caster is missing by not going single class. Also, 20% of campaigns is a very significant percentage. It's literally millions of people these days.

 

[Yaarel]

You're inventing stuff. Those don't exist in 5e.

The point is to show what a 3e psionic spell looks like when using the 5e format.

 

[Yaarel]

In 5e you cannot add NEW and DIFFERENT effects by casting in higher slots. 3e augments could.

5e spell augments can add new and different effects. For example.

The 5e Create Undead spell as an "at higher levels" augment to create or control different kinds of undead.

"At higher levels" can change Bestow Curse from a Concentrariom spell to a nonconcentration spell lasting 24 hours, and even to an effect that lasts indefinitely. Similarly, Major Image.

Glyph of Warding augments different effects for different glyphs.

Bigbys Hand can modify either its Clenched Fist or its Grasping Hand differently.

Conjure Celestial can augment to summon a more powerful creature with a higher challenge rating.

In any case, it is standard to use augments to change the amount of damage, area of effect, number of targets, level affected, and so on.

 

[Maxperson]

The point is to show what a 3e psionic spell looks like when using the 5e format.

Yeah, but I want unique augment ability to remain psionic only. I don't want it to be the same as upcasting, because they wizards could just yank the abilities and be psionic without being psionic.

 

[Yaarel]

Yeah, but I want unique augment ability to remain psionic only. I don't want it to be the same as upcasting, because they wizards could just yank the abilities and be psionic without being psionic.

I think augmentation is too useful for too many spells generally. It is unnelpful to make exclusive to the Psion.

Maybe, the "always on" spells might only be on the Psion spell list, and on the spell lists of other psionic classes. But this mevhanic is also useful for spells like Mage Armor and Darkvision.

 

[Maxperson]

I think augmentation is too useful for too many spells generally. It is unnelpful to make exclusive to the Psion.

So are sneak attack, smiting, raging, channel divinity, and wild shape. We should open rage, sneak attack and smiting to all melee classes, and open up channel divinity and wild shape to all classes. Those things are unhelpful to make them exclusive to their classes.

As you can see from my examples, there's nothing wrong with having a unique and exclusive ability for a class, even if that ability would be helpful to other classes. Augment should be that psionic exclusive power.

 

[Yaarel]

So are sneak attack, smiting, raging, channel divinity, and wild shape. We should open rage, sneak attack and smiting to all melee classes, and open up channel divinity and wild shape to all classes. Those things are unhelpful to make them exclusive to their classes.

As you can see from my examples, there's nothing wrong with having a unique and exclusive ability for a class, even if that ability would be helpful to other classes. Augment should be that psionic exclusive power.

There is a difference between class features and spell features.

Augment is a spell feature, part of a spell description. Any spell might need it depending on the nature of the spell.

I dont care about "unique" mechanics and "niches". I would rather customize whatever character concept I want by mix-and-matching whichever mechanic I need for the concept.

That said. The Psion probably will have a unique class feature to distinguish it from other casters. Bard has performance, Wizard books, Warlock invocations.

I will think of what Psion features might be, besides spells.

 

[Yaarel]

I see mainly four Psion archetypes:

• Prescience: divination, teleportation, fate, spacetime
• Telepathy: mindlink, enchantment, illusion
• Shapeshift: psychometabolism, shapechange, healing
• Telekinesis: force, fly, force construct, metacreativity/conjuration

It is important for the Psion to choose the archetype/discipline at level 1.

There can easily be unique class features relating to the choice of archetype.