What Should Be Done With Psionics?

[Masquerade]

I would think the way to do that would be to move away from the parapsychological and New Age tropes, and adopt more of the flavor that Eberron has given psionics. Less Uri Geller, more Tibetan mystic, I guess. I'd love it if Psions, Soulknives, and Monks all had the same power source...

I could definitely go for that. As long as the fluff continues to move away from the Uri Geller, be it toward crystals and quantum physics or toward mysticism and ki, I'll be satisfied.

 

[Rechan]

I think that would be a very interesting take on spell casting: making psions more single target/self focused makes them different than arcane or divine characters in a major way.

So if this were the case, I think the Psion would be The Striker.

 

[Rechan]

I could definitely go for that. As long as the fluff continues to move away from the Uri Geller, be it toward crystals and quantum physics or toward mysticism and ki, I'll be satisfied.

I'm not familiar with Uri Geller. What is the flavor of that?

 

[Masquerade]

I'm not familiar with Uri Geller. What is the flavor of that?

I took GreatLemur's reference to Uri Geller to refer to the contemporary mind-reading, spoon-bending view of psychics common in modern media. Wikipedia has a wealth of information regarding the man himself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Geller

 

[Rechan]

I took GreatLemur's reference to Uri Geller to refer to the contemporary mind-reading, spoon-bending view of psychics common in modern media. Wikipedia has a wealth of information regarding the man himself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Geller

Oh. Well, I think that the telepath is a pretty solid archetype. I don't think it should go away.

You know, that's one thing that I've noticed is never done in D&D: the psychic. You know, the fortune teller/ghost empathizer type. The ones that hold a seanze to Speak to spirits, the ones that can get general vibes and information, etc.

I think a spell or a class or something that could do that would be really intriguing. Like being able to ask an incorporeal undead to leave peacefully (and make a diplomacy check), etc.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

contemporary mind-reading, spoon-bending view of psychics common in modern media.

There's nothing comtemporary about Uri Geller or that style of psychic. Indeed, by the end of the 1970s, they were kind of old hat. More common was the "Scanners" kind of mind-raping, head-exploding psychic, and in the '80s we saw the firestarter-type and various other kind of unpleasant and dangerous psychic.

I can't think of many examples of the mind-reading spoon bender in genuinely modern media, either, i.e. post-2000. Psychics now are mostly of the superheroic kind these days.

 

[Masquerade]

There's nothing comtemporary about Uri Geller or that style of psychic. Indeed, by the end of the 1970s, they were kind of old hat. More common was the "Scanners" kind of mind-raping, head-exploding psychic, and in the '80s we saw the firestarter-type and various other kind of unpleasant and dangerous psychic.

I can't think of many examples of the mind-reading spoon bender in genuinely modern media, either, i.e. post-2000. Psychics now are mostly of the superheroic kind these days.

I neither deny your points nor consider myself an expert.

My point is that most of the disappointment I see with D&D psionics (aside from the "brokenness" argument) is that it doesn't accurately model a certain view of what "psychic powers" should be. I would like to see D&D psionics continue to grow away from that particular view, growing into its own thing, because I simply don't see the Uri Geller psychic archetype coexisting with the fantasy wizard archetype (who can do everything the psychic can, and more).

 

[Klaus]

There's nothing comtemporary about Uri Geller or that style of psychic. Indeed, by the end of the 1970s, they were kind of old hat. More common was the "Scanners" kind of mind-raping, head-exploding psychic, and in the '80s we saw the firestarter-type and various other kind of unpleasant and dangerous psychic.

I can't think of many examples of the mind-reading spoon bender in genuinely modern media, either, i.e. post-2000. Psychics now are mostly of the superheroic kind these days.

Indeed, "ectoplasm" was coined in the 1920s, referring to fluids expelled by a psuchic's body to serve as a coccoon for incorporeal entities in out-of-body spiritual readings.

Hellboy faces an Elder Being made of ectoplasm in the short story "Goodnight, Mr. Tod".

 

[Howndawg]

I think when one has to take a look at psionics in the game, one needs to take a trip on the Wayback Machine, back to the state of SF&F literature back in the 70's. Back then, reprints of old authors was quite common as there was not as much new fantasy fiction being written back then as there is now. Many bookstores had huge shelves dedicated to Burroughs, Howard, Moorcock, and Lieber. Many, but not all of those guys were pulp writers. In the pulp days, the line between "Sword and Sorcery" and "Sword and Planet" were quite thin. Most people who were big Howard fans were also big Burroughs fans. Many D&D fans back in the day were both. Since many fans saw very little difference between half-naked guys with swords rescuing half-naked girls from evil sorcerers, and half-naked guys with swords rescuing half-naked girls from aliens, they felt that Sword and Planet stuff could fit in D&D and not feel out of place. Thus, enter psionics.

Since psionics in D&D owes its origins in the game to the Sword and Planet genre, I think a science fiction feel is not out of place. Thus psionics should have a feel that captures that flavor. Telepaths, pyrokinetics, ESPers, etc. would all fit in nicely.

Howndawg

 

[Jhaelen]

I really would have preferred it if they'd included psionics as a power source from the very beginning AND clearly defined the limits of each power source. Other power sources should either be completely unable to reproduce effects that are the mainstay of a different power source or be significantly less potent.

Regarding the question what kind of powers are appropriate for psionics I'd look first at the iconic monsters that use psionics (Mindflayers, Aboleth, Githyanki, Githzerai, Couatl, Yuan-Ti, etc.). What do you think these monsters should be able to do with their powers?

I think if you start to list potential powers from this point of view you'll automatically get the right flavour.