WotC recognizes psionics and ki are the same

[Aaron L]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070214a

You have learned to draw upon a power within yourself, some call it psionics, others call it ki or chi, but by whatever name you call it, that power sets you apart from other fighters.

Rad. I've held this position all along.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Now to just incorporate that into the core rules' fluff and dump some of the weirder crystal stuff (or make that campaign-specific). If Eberron's psionics = dreams and the wushu ki=psionics stuff were core, I know I'd be a lot more receptive to it. Weird crystal stuff, though, ain't what I'm interested in for my D&D, unless it's dwarves, gnomes and kobolds squabbling over them.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Hm. Article doesn't seem to be working for me- either through the link above or through the main site.

Anyway, going with what Whiz said, would that mean that certain abilities (such as the monk's) are considered psionic? (I'm sure it's just flavor text, but I wouldn't be averse to it becoming the "official" view on things.)

 

[Aaron L]

Oh, I like the new-agey crystal stuff. Just look at it as a different technique for ki use and focus. Some practitioners, like Monks, don't use them, and instead use incense and other things to focus their meditations, but others, like Psions and Psychic Warriors, use crystals to focus, and even to store ki outside their bodies.


Maybe make it a cultural thing, with psionics being the term from one culture and ki the term for the same power from a different culture. That's how I do it in my home setting.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

If that's the case, time to move monks to the optional rules with the psionics!

 

[JustKim]

I'm not so sure I can get behind the professional work of a guy who credits himself "Dark Psion". I mean, it may be a geographical thing, but when an employee comes in where I work in a mask and cape and yells "I'm the Dark Psion", the reaction has historically been to give him a funny look and not to take what he says about the nature of psionics as canon.

 

[Aaron L]

Hm. Article doesn't seem to be working for me- either through the link above or through the main site.

Anyway, going with what Whiz said, would that mean that certain abilities (such as the monk's) are considered psionic? (I'm sure it's just flavor text, but I wouldn't be averse to it becoming the "official" view on things.)

Well, with the psionics/magic/ki transparency rules, it wouldn't really make any difference, mechanics-wise. I've always had Monk abilities recognized as psionic in nature in all of my games.

I'd be ecstatic if they officially recognized Monks as being psionic. In my campaigns I give Monks the psionic descriptor and allow them to take psionic feats and become psionically focused, and consider their daily [/i]ki[/i] uses to be a pool of psionic Power Points.


I'm actually working on a conversion rate between ki and PP so they can use Deep Crystal weapons and the like.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Cool! That makes even more sense for my Lucid Cenobite PC.

I'm actually working on a conversion rate between ki and PP so they can use Deep Crystal weapons and the like.

Recently I gave them the Wild talent feat (like a soulknife gets), thus giving them the Psioinic subtype (and opening up Psi feats). Monk only get their monk AC, monk speed, spell resistance, poison immunity, and other stuff when psionically focused. Using Stunning fist (and related feats), requires you to expend your focus.

 

[Glyfair]

If that's the case, time to move monks to the optional rules with the psionics!

I think it's a pure flavor definition and not a gamist definition, in this case. It isn't saying that ninjas (with their Ki abilities) should be considered psionic. It's just saying some call the psionics abilities of Psi-Warriors Ki. It can be quite different from other things people call Ki.

 

[Aaron L]

Cool! That makes even more sense for my Lucid Cenobite PC.



Recently I gave them the Wild talent feat (like a soulknife gets), thus giving them the Psioinic subtype (and opening up Psi feats). Monk only get their monk AC, monk speed, spell resistance, poison immunity, and other stuff when psionically focused. Using Stunning fist (and related feats), requires you to expend your focus.

I considered doing something like that, but I think it hurts Monks too much to require them to expend their focus for use of their standard abilities, and since they don't have access to actual psionic powers they cant get Hustle to focus quickly and use more than one psionic focus expenditure a round. And as for the Wild Talent feat, I heavily considered doing that too, but I just decided to let their pool of ki uses count as giving them the psionic subtype.

I have always considered internal forces projected from the body into the outside world to equal both ki and psionics, while magic is the manipulation of outside forces of the universe (and I even consider some magic spells to incorporate the latent psionic powers of the spellcaster. The telepathy and telekinesis type spells, for example, I consider to temporarily activate the dormant psionic centers of the casters brain that produce those powers.)


I really love this article as a whole, letting Psychic Warriors get access to Mantles, and the soulbound weapon idea is brilliant, and I almost consider it a better way to handle the Soulknife concept.


I just wish they would fix the Soulknife and make it a more viable class. I give them Flurry of Blows with their mindblades. I consider Monks to e a very narrowly focused subtype of Psychic Warriors who lean a set-in-stone series of psionic abilities instead of a flexible list of powers, and then consider Soulknives to be an even more specifically focused subtype of Monks who seek to perfect their mindblades instead of just their unarmed attacks.