D&D 5E What's wrong with this psion?

[Maxperson]

They are casters who draw on their innate magical power. For most of them that might be fluffed as 'arcane' but there is divine soul which sounds pretty 'divine' to me.

Fluff. Arcane has no real meaning other than in the narrative, as does "external magic". If WotC releases a subclass that says a psionic soul sorcerer is a psionic caster with internal magic, then that becomes a new fluff construct with a new narrative for the setting.

Plus I'm assuming that "divine soul" sorcerers are not "arcane" casters.

Perhaps. WotC has come up with fluff that doesn't match mechanics like you would think. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that they use arcane means to use divine spells.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Well, you know what? Most psionics fans can already play this. They already HAVE the Mystic. They can play Mystics right now all they want. But apparently that's not good enough. Because nobody else would be playing it.

And apparently, nothing in D&D is "real" unless WotC publishes it in a book with a pretty cover and a couple of Mike Schley maps and thus everyone is using it. It's not enough to have psionic rules that a player is happy with... they need every other D&D player in the world to use the same rules.

Frankly, I think in most of these arguments about Psionics, Warlords, subclasses, feat balance, under-powered Rangers etc. etc. etc.... it's much more about personal ego than it is about having a game set a person enjoy using. They need THEIR desires to be embraced by everyone and published in a book. Because only then does their needs and desires count.

You seem very invested in this!

I think that it is a natural reaction for people to want to see things they like officially published by WoTC, isn't it? People who like Dark Sun probably want to see Dark Sun. People who like Spelljammer (CONFIRMED!) want to see that. People who want to see Dragonlance would love WoTC to give a nod in that direction.

It's kind of rude and dismissive to say that people who want to see something are being obnoxious. If you don't like people advocating for things they like, then don't listen to them.

 

[Weiley31]

And apparently, nothing in D&D is "real" unless WotC publishes it in a book with a pretty cover and a couple of Mike Schley maps and thus everyone is using it. It's not enough to have psionic rules that a player is happy with... they need every other D&D player in the world to use the same rules.

I noticed this as well. It's very strange.

 

[Minigiant]

What makes this character not a psion?

Human 9th Level Psionic Soul Sorcerer
Cantrips: Friends, Mage Hand, Message, Mind Sliver, Minor Illusion
1st Level: Charm Person, Id Insinuation
2nd Level: Detect Thoughts, Hold Person, Levitate
3rd Level: Fear, Psionnic Blast
4th Level: Confusion, Ego Whip
5th Level: Dominate Person

Metamagic: Subtle Spell, Heightened Spell

No augments

 

[DEFCON 1]

You seem very invested in this!

I think that it is a natural reaction for people to want to see things they like officially published by WoTC, isn't it? People who like Dark Sun probably want to see Dark Sun. People who like Spelljammer (CONFIRMED!) want to see that. People who want to see Dragonlance would love WoTC to give a nod in that direction.

It's kind of rude and dismissive to say that people who want to see something are being obnoxious. If you don't like people advocating for things they like, then don't listen to them.

As I've said elsewhere... it's not about not letting someone get what they want. It's about someone having a "my way or the highway" attitude towards what they ARE getting, and then basically insulting the designers and the company for not giving it to them.

It's just the repeated go arounds on the same complaints over and over and over again that make me roll my eyes. Could I just ignore them? Sure, I guess. But I'd run out of threads to read here on the boards pretty quickly if I did.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

Too many "person" powers. Obviously Hold Anything is not balanced at 2nd-level. Psions used to have somewhat different powers, for instance, 2e's Id Insinuation was weaker than Hold Person (no defensive penalties) but worked on anything with a mind. (I have no idea what 5e Id Insinuation is, though.)

Instead of Dominate Person, just Domination, with a drastically shorter duration. A bunch of spells could be ditched and replaced with more appropriate powers.

Subtle Spell should be by default. Note that psionics also shouldn't have components for most powers, and... yes, that makes psions powerful, so they have to pay for that somehow.

Where are the defenses? Psions in 3e had an equivalent to Mage Armor, called Inertial Armor. The power is basically identical, just with a more suitable name. Or do it 2e style (weaker defenses, but proficient in light armor automatically, no proficiencies means no issues with armor). 3e style is easier.

I said a psion, not a good psion. I would have chosen the spells better. Whatever. My goal wasn't optimization, but gather information from the community.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

The name of the class.

Why does the class name matter so much to you? Certainly not all Samurai (the sub-class) originate in medieval Japan.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

As I've said elsewhere... it's not about not letting someone get what they want. It's about someone having a "my way or the highway" attitude towards what they ARE getting, and then basically insulting the designers and the company for not giving it to them.

It's just the repeated go arounds on the same complaints over and over and over again that make me roll my eyes. Could I just ignore them? Sure, I guess. But I'd run out of threads to read here on the boards pretty quickly if I did.

I don't know. If you're going to keep getting angry at people complaining on the internet, you might want to consider what is more likely to change: your approach, or the internet.

 

[TwoSix]

You seem very invested in this!

I think that it is a natural reaction for people to want to see things they like officially published by WoTC, isn't it? People who like Dark Sun probably want to see Dark Sun. People who like Spelljammer (CONFIRMED!) want to see that. People who want to see Dragonlance would love WoTC to give a nod in that direction.

It's kind of rude and dismissive to say that people who want to see something are being obnoxious. If you don't like people advocating for things they like, then don't listen to them.

There's a difference between "it would be great if WotC released more material like psionics" and "I'm going to be mad if WotC releases psionics and it's wrong".

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

If I had to guess... here are the first few "arguments" why it isn't...

• Those abilities all use verbal, somatic, and material components. Psion disciplines don't.
• Those abilities can all be countered by Counterspell. Psion disciplines aren't able to be.

Nothing 1 minute of house-ruling or a 2 minute conversation with the DM can't solve, no?

• Those abilities can only be used in certain combinations per day based upon the "spell slots table". Psion disciplines can be used freely in any combination up to a certain power point.

What about using the DMG spell point (power point) variant?

• Those abilities only are used via a single subclass, rather than multiple different psionic subclasses, like Telepath, Kineticist, Metamorph, Lurker etc.

I could have chosen different spells.

• Those abilities look like magic, feel like magic, and play like magic. Psion disciplines should do none of those things.

Which of those things looks and feel like magic?