D&D 5E (2024) [+] What does a non-spellcaster Psion need/look like?

[Crimson Longinus]

To have something that might feel more different from D&D's traditional spellcasting, would be to have more freeform power system. I think something similar to the magic system in Mage the Ascension. Something that resembles more of skill use than spellcasting. So you'd have telepathy, telekinesis, pyromancy, biomancy etc "skills" then there would be various feats and DCs for them. It might cost some resources to attempt this at all, or alternatively you could burn resources to magnify the effect. Like to push a creature back, you roll telkiness with the DC based on the creature's size, and then you can burn power points to push them further or something like this. And of course you could try anything that sounds feasible instead of just the listed effects. But given how barebones 5e skill system is, it would require a lot of work to design a system that would work well like this. And it also perhaps is too divergent and might feel out of place in the game.

 

[Yaarel]

I am looking thru the 2e Psionicist.

Its "powers", both major sciences and minor devotions, are just spells.

Once its MAD-ness discontinues, the d20 roll is standardized for higher is better, perhaps the target saves instead of the caster attacks, and most importantly the broken powers get fixed whether nerf or buff or level prereq, ... it is just spells. I see how the 2e Psionicist translated into the 3e Psion: systematic standardization.

Clairvoyance, Spirit Sense (Detect Evil and Good), Disintegrate, Inertial Barrier (Shield + Air Bubble), etcetera. All spells.

I see the legitimacy of a noncaster psionic class, but the 2e Psionicist is a less helpful model for it. Once a designer tries to make the 2e class work well within the 5e gaming engine, it is going to end up again as the fullcaster of the updated UA Psion.


I feel the most fruitful way forward to make a psionic noncaster, is to make a psionic "superhero" class. It is a simple mage with a handful of always-on useful powers. While advancing levels these handful of powers improve. Maybe additionally, the "5e Energy Dice" can augment them for buffs and special stunts. The inspiration is superheroes like X-Men, and its mechanics as simple as possible (but not simpler). Superboy (Kon-El) is awesomely psionic via his "tactile telekinesis": telekinetic flight, telekinetic force armor, and telekinetically enhanced strength. Possibly he even has a dash of prescience via special senses and fast learning. Just a handful of powers that are balanced at level 1 and that scale well to spell slot 9 amounts of effectiveness by level 17. I wonder if one power per proficiency bonus would be enough to work. Maybe the subclass adds one or two more.

 

[Zardnaar]

I am looking thru the 2e Psionicist.

Its "powers", both major sciences and minor devotions, are just spells.

Once its MAD-ness discontinues, the d20 roll is standardized for higher is better, perhaps the target saves instead of the caster attacks, and most importantly the broken powers get fixed whether nerf or buff or level prereq, ... it is just spells. I see how the 2e Psionicist translated into the 3e Psion: systematic standardization.

Clairvoyance, Spirit Sense (Detect Evil and Good), Disintegrate, Inertial Barrier (Shield + Air Bubble), etcetera. All spells.

I see the legitimacy of a noncaster psionic class, but the 2e Psionicist is a less helpful model for it. Once a designer tries to make the 2e class work well within the 5e gaming engine, it is going to end up again as the fullcaster of the updated UA Psion.


I feel the most fruitful way forward to make a psionic noncaster, is to make a psionic "superhero" class. It is a simple mage with a handful of always-on useful powers. While advancing levels these handful of powers improve. Maybe additionally, the "5e Energy Dice" can augment them for buffs and special stunts. The inspiration is superheroes like X-Men, and its mechanics as simple as possible (but not simpler). Superboy (Kon-El) is awesomely psionic via his "tactile telekinesis": telekinetic flight, telekinetic force armor, and telekinetically enhanced strength. Possibly he even has a dash of prescience via special senses and fast learning. Just a handful of powers that are balanced at level 1 and that scale well to spell slot 9 amounts of effectiveness by level 17. I wonder if one power per proficiency bonus would be enough to work. Maybe the subclass adds one or two more.

2E ones debatable as psionics could bypass MR.

Not sure 3.0.

3.5 was basically variant spellcasting. Only one out of 4 takes I've liked tbh.