Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
what is the difference between magic and psionics?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 8885877" data-attributes="member: 6801845"><p>The basic concept of the weave is that raw magic permeates the universe and how wizards interface with that raw magic is labeled the weave in FR. Basically though, D&D worlds have an underlying source of power that does not (as far as we know <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> ) exist in the real world. In my campaign, some schools call this raw magic aether and antimagic zones just block interaction with the aether. It's why things like ghosts, giants and dragons which all rely on the supernatural can still exist in antimagic zones. For them, as well as monks, the magic is an innate ability. Even in FR, monks and creatures that use psionics are still using the weave.</p><p></p><p>[SPOILER="Sword Coast Adventurers Guide Explanation"]</p><p><strong>Supernatural Powers and Psionics</strong></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px">The inborn magical abilities of certain creatures, the acquired supernatural powers of people such as monks, and psionic abilities are similar in that their users don’t manipulate the Weave in the customary way that spellcasters do. The mental state of the user is vitally important: monks and some psionics-users train long and hard to attain the right frame of mind, while creatures with supernatural powers have that mind-set in their nature. How these abilities are related to the Weave remains a matter of debate; many students of the arcane believe that the use of the so-called Unseen Art is an aspect of magical talent that can’t be directly studied or taught.</span>[/SPOILER]</p><p></p><p>So in my campaign psionics would still have to rely on the aether to exist since, again as far as we know, there is no way for psionics to work in our world. There needs to be something special and different about fantastical realms. You could create entirely separate power sources I suppose but how magic works is left deliberately vague so that different campaigns can implement it differently.</p><p></p><p>Fundamentally though there's just not a lot of room in D&D for psionics. Magic users of all stripes stole "mind magic" and relabeled it "spells", sorcerers stole the "innate magic" aspect. There's little to no room from a mechanical aspect and from a story aspect it just varies too much.</p><p></p><p>The other problem is that it seems very few people really agree what psionics should be or how to differentiate it. If I wanted to have psionics in my campaign I'd just change the fluff for sorcerers, maybe change the primary ability to wisdom to reflect mental discipline. Focus less on physical damaging effects and more on enchantment, divination or spells like mage hand, animate objects and Bigby's hand that are more telekinesis based.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 8885877, member: 6801845"] The basic concept of the weave is that raw magic permeates the universe and how wizards interface with that raw magic is labeled the weave in FR. Basically though, D&D worlds have an underlying source of power that does not (as far as we know ;) ) exist in the real world. In my campaign, some schools call this raw magic aether and antimagic zones just block interaction with the aether. It's why things like ghosts, giants and dragons which all rely on the supernatural can still exist in antimagic zones. For them, as well as monks, the magic is an innate ability. Even in FR, monks and creatures that use psionics are still using the weave. [SPOILER="Sword Coast Adventurers Guide Explanation"] [B]Supernatural Powers and Psionics[/B] [SIZE=16px]The inborn magical abilities of certain creatures, the acquired supernatural powers of people such as monks, and psionic abilities are similar in that their users don’t manipulate the Weave in the customary way that spellcasters do. The mental state of the user is vitally important: monks and some psionics-users train long and hard to attain the right frame of mind, while creatures with supernatural powers have that mind-set in their nature. How these abilities are related to the Weave remains a matter of debate; many students of the arcane believe that the use of the so-called Unseen Art is an aspect of magical talent that can’t be directly studied or taught.[/SIZE][/SPOILER][SIZE=16px][/SIZE] So in my campaign psionics would still have to rely on the aether to exist since, again as far as we know, there is no way for psionics to work in our world. There needs to be something special and different about fantastical realms. You could create entirely separate power sources I suppose but how magic works is left deliberately vague so that different campaigns can implement it differently. Fundamentally though there's just not a lot of room in D&D for psionics. Magic users of all stripes stole "mind magic" and relabeled it "spells", sorcerers stole the "innate magic" aspect. There's little to no room from a mechanical aspect and from a story aspect it just varies too much. The other problem is that it seems very few people really agree what psionics should be or how to differentiate it. If I wanted to have psionics in my campaign I'd just change the fluff for sorcerers, maybe change the primary ability to wisdom to reflect mental discipline. Focus less on physical damaging effects and more on enchantment, divination or spells like mage hand, animate objects and Bigby's hand that are more telekinesis based. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
what is the difference between magic and psionics?
Top