What happens when a psicrystal dies?

Blue Sky · May 17, 2006

Is there any effects for losing a psicrystal, such as the effects for losing a familiar?

Also, if you lose your crystal through it's death, how do you rebind one?

I couldn't find this in the srd or XPH, so any help would be appreciated.

Thanee · May 17, 2006

Not sure if this has been addressed in the FAQ yet, but I doubt it.

In the book, it says nothing about being able to replace a dead psicrystal, so it could be, that it is not possible at all.

If the DM allows it, you can probably use the same rules as for the familiars (including XP penalties and time to wait before being able to get a new one).

Bye
Thanee

irdeggman · May 17, 2006

This topic has been brought up before and like Thanee said we haven't seen anything offical on this.

One thing to keep in mind though that a psicrystal is unlike a familiar. A psicrystal is a fragment of the character's own personality - it is a part of him. So the "death" of one would seem to me the "penalties" for the death of a familiar would not apply, expecially the 1 year waiting part. I mean what kind of "sorrow" and "mourning" can there really be. It is not like the loss of close friend, it is a construct after all.

I personally am torn on whether or not a charcter can "replace" a psycrystal withuot having to take the feat again. The rules don't really state he can get a new one only that the feat allows him to have one. I don't like the idea that the feat would be a 1 time use thing but the psicrystal is different than a familiar. Shoot there are feats that allow a character to have more than one personality in his psicrystal. A wizard/sorcerer can't have more than 1 familiar at a time.

A psicrystal is a fragment of a psionic character’s personality, brought into physical form and a semblance of life (via the Psicrystal Affinity feat). A psicrystal appears as a crystalline construct about the size of a human hand.

Because it is an extension of its creator’s personality, a character’s psicrystal is in some ways a part of him. That’s why, for example, a psionic character can manifest a personal range power on his psicrystal even though normally he can manifest such a power only on himself.

Jack Simth · May 17, 2006

Thanee said:
If the DM allows it, you can probably use the same rules as for the familiars (including XP penalties and time to wait before being able to get a new one).

... which is essentially what the 3.0 copy of the Psionics Handbook I have access to says.

frankthedm · May 17, 2006

Jack Simth said:
... which is essentially what the 3.0 copy of the Psionics Handbook I have access to says.

That is good to know.

3d6 · May 17, 2006

I seem to remember that CustServ once said that if you psicrystal dies, you can aquire a new one after a waiting period, and they suggested the waiting period should be somewhere from 1 day to 1 week. I'm not sure where I read that, so take it with a grain of salt.