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

[Incenjucar]

I don't recall Invokers having dead gods as part of their core story. They were more directly linked to their deities, almost a more "pure" priest class than the more martial cleric.

That said, yeah, magic comes from many sources.
Divine magic can be channeled from deities or it can come from faith itself and the power of the outer planes - even in the absence of deities
Arcane magic is the background fabric of reality
Ki is the essence of self
Psionics is the mind

Many creatures and classes have magical powers which are not spellcasting, and many are basically entirely magical entities, like elementals.

They're all magic in the broadest sense, but there's no reason they all have to work the same way.

 

[Maxperson]

I wouldn't say "can't", exactly. In 4e, the Invoker class was a divine caster that drew on magic not from an external source, but from the fragment of a dead god lodged in their soul. But you do run into the Sorcerer problem; if the guy is just using the same exact spells as everyone else, does the source of their power really matter?

My issue with "can't" isn't the lore. You can say arcane or divine is internal as you mention. My issue is with the mechanics of sorcerers. Font of Magic, Flexible Casting and Metamagic don't really fit the psion. The psion needs something more in line with what a psion is. The sorcerer is in the ballpark, but can't hit the home run.

 

[Incenjucar]

I enjoy the common psionic mechanic of having a handful of abilities that you can choose to supercharge and the possibility of ending up in a mind dual - like a more dynamic version of counter-spelling or that samurai mental combat before the actual single strike thing.

 

[James Gasik]

I don't recall Invokers having dead gods as part of their core story. They were more directly linked to their deities, almost a more "pure" priest class than the more martial cleric.

That said, yeah, magic comes from many sources.
Divine magic can be channeled from deities or it can come from faith itself and the power of the outer planes - even in the absence of deities
Arcane magic is the background fabric of reality
Ki is the essence of self
Psionics is the mind

Many creatures and classes have magical powers which are not spellcasting, and many are basically entirely magical entities, like elementals.

They're all magic in the broadest sense, but there's no reason they all have to work the same way.

Hm, going back to look at it, I'm not sure where I heard that explanation for Invokers before. I might have gotten confused with Pathfinder's Oracle; looking at Divine Power, it seems that they make pacts with cthonic deities, more like a divine Warlock.

 

[Maxperson]

Divine magic can be channeled from deities or it can come from faith itself and the power of the outer planes - even in the absence of deities
Arcane magic is the background fabric of reality

That's how I run it more or less, and how it used to be run. Strictly speaking, however, 5e has reduced divine to being from gods and arcane from weaves(by some name). I think that was a mistake and I think it was the result of 5e's apparent quest to reduce how much lore it writes.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I don't recall Invokers having dead gods as part of their core story. They were more directly linked to their deities, almost a more "pure" priest class than the more martial cleric.

That said, yeah, magic comes from many sources.
Divine magic can be channeled from deities or it can come from faith itself and the power of the outer planes - even in the absence of deities
Arcane magic is the background fabric of reality
Ki is the essence of self
Psionics is the mind

Many creatures and classes have magical powers which are not spellcasting, and many are basically entirely magical entities, like elementals.

They're all magic in the broadest sense, but there's no reason they all have to work the same way.

Except in the vast majority of cases, they do in 5e. Every casts the same spell in the same ways in different combinations. WotC insistence on simplicity sees to that.

 

[Incenjucar]

Except in the vast majority of cases, they do in 5e. Every casts the same spell in the same ways in different combinations. WotC insistence on simplicity sees to that.

Classes still have quite a few magical non-spell abilities. Spells are certainly highly represented, but you also have Bardic Inspiration, Lay on Hands, etc.

 

[Smackpixi]

So after 58 pages, I’m gonna go with my OP idea, they’re just spells. It’s a thing you can do on your turn. Like whacking someone with an axe, or dropping a fireball. Psionics in 5e are always gonna be just another attack and not weird or special in some other way. It might be greatly themed in some way, but just another POW. Gotcha. So stop pretending Psionics are anything else? I mean I know you won’t, but yawn at this point.

 

[Incenjucar]

That's... the entire game.

And all other games.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

It is not only Dark Sun needs the psionic powers. If WotC wants to publish Gamma World, Star Frontiers or other no-fantasy setting, then psionic powers might be necessary.

And if it is not published by WotC then it will be by some 3PP, for example Dreamscarred Press.