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What Should Be Done With Psionics?
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<blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 3783102" data-attributes="member: 50987"><p><strong>"Mind" as a Power Source?</strong></p><p></p><p>Maybe psionics could be another power source for magic, and that's all. Clerics have a divine source (their power comes from the gods), and wizards have an arcane source (their power comes from energy or the elements). Psionic power could come from the mind...after all, we humans only use about 20% of our brains, right? What happens if we "unlock" the rest of it in a fantasy setting?</p><p></p><p>Most divine magic has a distinctive feel to it (miracles, healing, plagues, etc.), and so does arcane magic (fireballs, lightning bolts, meteors). If most of the mental-affecting spells and effects were moved to the psionic talent trees (force effects, telekinesis, and so on), psionics could also have their own distinctive feel. The separation would be painful at first, and would take some getting used to, but I think the end result would be a higher-quality product.</p><p></p><p>The trouble is, a lot of sacred cows in the D&D game would best fit under the psionic talent trees (most charms and compulsions, as well as most force effects and mind-blasters like <em>mage armor</em> and <em>feeblemind</em>.) I don't see wizard-lovers wanting to give these spells up, and for good reason. Conversely, I don't think many people would want to play a psionic who couldn't blast or heal. So obviously, some spells/talents would have to be on both the arcane and psionic lists...but without enough separation between what is an arcane spell and what is a psionic effect, everything blends into everything else and psions become just another sorcerer variant.</p><p></p><p>That is the real problem, IMHO. Most people want psions to walk and talk like a sorcerer, but not be a sorcerer.</p><p></p><p>I don't really have any solutions...but I think the "mind" power source and talent trees would be a step in the right direction.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CleverNickName, post: 3783102, member: 50987"] [b]"Mind" as a Power Source?[/b] Maybe psionics could be another power source for magic, and that's all. Clerics have a divine source (their power comes from the gods), and wizards have an arcane source (their power comes from energy or the elements). Psionic power could come from the mind...after all, we humans only use about 20% of our brains, right? What happens if we "unlock" the rest of it in a fantasy setting? Most divine magic has a distinctive feel to it (miracles, healing, plagues, etc.), and so does arcane magic (fireballs, lightning bolts, meteors). If most of the mental-affecting spells and effects were moved to the psionic talent trees (force effects, telekinesis, and so on), psionics could also have their own distinctive feel. The separation would be painful at first, and would take some getting used to, but I think the end result would be a higher-quality product. The trouble is, a lot of sacred cows in the D&D game would best fit under the psionic talent trees (most charms and compulsions, as well as most force effects and mind-blasters like [I]mage armor[/I] and [I]feeblemind[/I].) I don't see wizard-lovers wanting to give these spells up, and for good reason. Conversely, I don't think many people would want to play a psionic who couldn't blast or heal. So obviously, some spells/talents would have to be on both the arcane and psionic lists...but without enough separation between what is an arcane spell and what is a psionic effect, everything blends into everything else and psions become just another sorcerer variant. That is the real problem, IMHO. Most people want psions to walk and talk like a sorcerer, but not be a sorcerer. I don't really have any solutions...but I think the "mind" power source and talent trees would be a step in the right direction. [/QUOTE]
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What Should Be Done With Psionics?
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