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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 9673183" data-attributes="member: 6779196">Psychic pyrokenesis is a very significant trope, despite the connection not being very obvious on its surface. But, pyrokenetes are often just pyrokenetes and don’t usually have other psychic abilities. Pyrokenesis also tends to have high associated risks, such as being difficult to control - Pyrokenetic characters typically have sort of the reverse of the usual D&D power advancement structure, where they can’t help but go all-out by default and have to train to limit their own power output for their safety and that of others around them. With such a specific model of psychic fire control powers, I think it would be best handled by a subclass at the very least, or realistically a completely separate class than the base psion, if it’s even to be modeled in 5e at all. Just giving psions access to fire spells wouldn’t feel appropriate to the archetype IMO, and the reverse power scaling aspect makes me lean towards “maybe this isn’t something D&D is built to model at all.”Ice powers are not something I associate with psychic ability at all. I think it sometimes gets lumped in via association with X-Men and similar super-powered human mutation stories, but is not itself a psychic ability.As for what should go in the base class. I think telekinesis and telepathy are a given. Some amount of mind control is a natural fit as an extension of telepathy. And, I think precognition and telecognition (e.g. scrying) are common enough to fit within the base class as well. So, a lot of Conjuration, Enchantment, and some Divination. Most Evocation, Abjuration, and Necromancy doesn’t fit IMO.Biokenesis is a bit odd. I get it with things like enhanced metabolism, or enhancing one’s own sensory abilities, reflexes, etc. It’s all part of the “using 100% of your brain” trope, which despite not really being how brains work, is a prevalent part of psychic lore, and probably worth inclusion. Give the base Psion access to, like, Expeditious Retreat and Enhance Ability and stuff, sure, makes sense. But where it loses me is when it crosses the line into shapeshifting. At that point it no longer feels like a psychic power, it’s just magic by any other name.I feel similarly about teleportation, but the teleporter, like the pyrokenete, is a common enough archetype of psychic character that it might merit its own subclass. Which the UA did include, to its credit. But I would limit any teleportation spells/abilities to that subclass, personally.Illusion is another sticky one. Like, it can work as a more powerful expression of “mind tricks,” but… it can easily cross the line from feeling like psychically inducing hallucinations in others, into just projecting holograms, and the latter doesn’t feel psychic to me. I’d be pretty picky about what illusion spells I’d give the base psion access to. Maybe include a more illusion-focused subclass though.</blockquote>

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