XPH: Elan Balanced?

[Hardhead]

Spending 100 PP to block that 50 damage is @ half of a 14th level psion's total PP for the day.

It's 1 pp per 2 hp of damage. So to stop that 50 damage, you only spend 25 pp (so about 1/8 of thier pp)

 

[DreamChaser]

Because the racial ability is not a power/spell, it is a supernatural ability. Hence, it, like any supernatural ability, is an exception to all rules that have anything to do with powers/spells, unless it states specifically that it is like the spell/power.

Where exactly does it state or even imply this? I don't think that a supernatural ability is an exception to every rule by default...just the ones specified in the supernatural ability description. Everything else is...well everything else.

DC

 

[Deset Gled]

I've been looking around, but have had trouble finding the primary source that states the limit of power points a manifester is allowed to spend at once (it's not in the SRDs, as the psionic SRDs have not yet been updated). Can somebody post the relevant text, as well as the specific text of the Elan's special abilities, so that we can analyze it to see if the PP limit should apply to the Elan's ability?

 

[Piratecat]

It's 1 pp per 2 hp of damage. So to stop that 50 damage, you only spend 25 pp (so about 1/8 of thier pp)

Right. See what happens when I post without thinking? That's equivalent to five 5th lvl powers, or two 7th lvl powers.

 

[DreamChaser]

XPH p 63

Power Point Limit
"The maximum number of points you can spend on a power (for any reason) is equal to your manifester level."

DC

 

[James McMurray]

DreamChaser: Power is a defined term, which applies to the powers that psychics gain when they go up in levels. It does not refer to racial abilities. If it did, an Elan fighter would not be able to use his racial abilities and should be given a negative LA because he has no racial abilities, only penalties.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

First, I think the "never spend more PP than your level" rule applies here.

Even if it doesn't? Maybe it's just me, but this seems like a fair tradeoff.. That's what - potentially 20 3rd lvl powers, or 11 5th lvl powers, to save a lousy 50 points of damage? That's absolutely balanced.

EDIT: Yeek! I should have known better. 50 hp of damage should be 25 pp, or 5 3rd lvl powers or two 7th lvl powers... still okay, for my campaign.

Yeah, well, I had a DM who used to think it was ok to get a really powerful effect in round one, as long as you were low on power points for the rest of the day. Then I personally broke his campaign.

I think there should be a short list of things that shouldn't be allowed in psionics.

Nothing uncapped.
No unnamed bonuses.
All disabling powers should be save negates. (Dissonance and Ego Whip, I'm looking at you.)
Unlimited power points (looking at the metamind here).

Fortunately there are very few violations of these in the XPH, and certainly a lot less than there were in the 3.0 PsiH. There's still a few though that will hopefully get fixed in the errata.

 

[Dinkeldog]

Hey, can't leave out an opportunity to tell you folks how darn unbalanced the XPH is!



Bye
Thanee

Sure, Nightfall, whatever you say.

The other thing for this is that it's an immediate action, which means you can only do it once a round. That might balance it out somewhat, again, once you're talking about level 6+ characters. Seems good, but perhaps not gamebreaking. Especially without, as Scion said, the +2 to a stat. That means if you want an 18 in point buy, you really have to pay for the whole thing instead of just a 16, like we usually do.

 

[Shadowdweller]

Unless the stat in question just doesn't do much for a given character. To many characters, having a mere -2 to charisma barely affects them. Yes, they'll have a more difficult time dealing with others...but the truth is that just doesn't mean much in many campaigns.

Regarding Resilience, seems like it's much more useful at low levels, when a few hps of damage really ARE important. Seems nice, but it's not something I consider overly disgusting. IMO, it's the +4 to saves that's really sick. Consider, for instance, that this stacks with almost everything else. Monster ability DCs simply do no scale as fast as saves, and accelerating the process has a biiig impact.

On the other hand, having extra PP is also a big deal at low levels. Any other races gain extra 1st level spells? How many of them are less than LA+1?

 

[Stalker0]

Lets also not forget they are abberations, meaning they are immune to a lot of the dominate person, charm person, etc.

The -2 to charisma really isn't much of a minus, as has been stated.

People are saying the immediate effect can only be used once a round, and is balanced. But what spell level would you give to a spell that granted a +4 bonus to saves that stacks with all other save bonuses, lasts one round, and is quickened?

In fact better than quickened because it doesn't even have to be my turn, so its more like a contengency, except the condition is "whenever I feel like it".

For the resilence thing, its not the absorb 50 points of damage that's awesome, its the fact I could absorb that last 10 points of damage that would have put me under.

How often have you gotten surprised by an enemy and got dropped to -2 hp? How much better would it have been to have 3 more hp so you could have run away, or healed yourself up. The fact that the elan's ability is so customizable and can be done whenever they want is what makes it so hardcore.