Author Topic: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?  (Read 6672 times)

Offline bhu

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Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« on: April 22, 2015, 08:24:52 PM »
I'll be making some powers for it soon so I'm looking for ideas.

Offline awaken_D_M_golem

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2015, 06:17:57 PM »
3.0e like Str caster, Dex and Con too.

I think I've plumbed the last little details on School=Discipline stuff.
(no guide = I suck)
But there "ought" to be some Psi things that are NOT able to cross the divide.

"Psionics Is Different" could be it's own discipline, only accessible to psi purists.

No base class with +1 BAB.

I've thought about a "Black Swan" class that'd be a combo
of a very few but very powerful powers, and the caster is
Kray-kray crazy like Natalie Portman's ballet lead.
"I get visions of the future and it's horrifying."

Something like a Divine Mind that is slinging 4s at the start
some of them randomly, like a Wild Mage +++, but scared
near witless not understanding that Great Cthulhu is speaking
and has chosen them to be the vessel.

The Sybil in Savage Species is kinda in the ballpark.
The priestesses in Battlestar Galactica are somewhere near.
My kitty avatar's Tail wants it's own PrC, not for the feint of heart.
etc
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Offline Unbeliever

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2015, 12:09:45 AM »
This is probably outside the scope of its own question, but I'd love it to have its own "feel."  Much of what Psionics does is essentially a replacement for Arcane magic, which makes you wonder outside of a kind of unusual fluff (for a standard fantasy setting) and a few wonky mechanics, what its role in the game is.

Offline Nunkuruji

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2015, 10:28:06 AM »
Overall lack of external illusion capabilities, opts to instead mess with peoples heads; silent image, etc.

Overall lack of support/non-personal buffs/protections; haste, etc.

Should there be? Not necessarily.

Offline Chemus

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2015, 02:17:30 PM »
I'll be making some powers for it soon so I'm looking for ideas.

Consider Water, Air and Wind control, akin to Control Flames. And I've never even seen the show.
Apathy is ...ah screw it.
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Offline awaken_D_M_golem

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2015, 04:41:57 PM »
Ecto race
Incorporeal race
Ecto + Incorporeal race
Specific discipline styled race.

Biggest Stupidest EASIEST fighter, powered by psi.

Maybe a theory on Psionic "Elements".

Has anyone ever done a playable Ooze race?
The Star Trek morphers could be psi.
MLP-esque low definition appearance template, tacked onto anything
might be Far Realms coalescent Psychometabolism.
(or if going the 4e psi is the cure for far realms, de-coalescent)

Haldrik was a regular poster back at old wotc psi board.
He was certain that Norse Mythos used Runes As Psionics.
(or something like that)
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Offline bhu

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2015, 07:49:17 PM »
Question 2: What classes/powers/feats suck so badly they should be redone?

Offline SolEiji

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2015, 08:29:52 PM »
Question 2: What classes/powers/feats suck so badly they should be redone?

Well, both Lurk and Psyknife are pretty bad, but there's been 1001 rebuilds of them everywhere.

There are several dozen psionic feats which, for no good reason, say they only work on psionics even with psionics-magic transparency.  They work much better if they work with magic as well.

And a few powers which are obvious cantrips (Far Hand I'm looking at you) and don't belong at 1st level.  Or things which don't make any sense (we don't talk about Syncronicity).

Then there are some things from Complete Psionics you'd be wise to forget about...

Has anyone ever done a playable Ooze race?

I believe I've made a few...
Mudada.

Offline nijineko

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2015, 12:14:30 AM »
playable ooze race already exists - d20 future, they brought back the Dralasite race from the old Star Frontiers game.

i like psionics as the basic grouping of powers: telekinesis, empathy, telepathy, all the different kinds of clairsensory perception (clairvoyance, clairaudience, psychometry, precognition, etc.) , teleportation, astral projection. That's really all one needs. but with those simple powers, you can do all sorts of things with a little bit of knowledge and skill.

the manga psiren has some interesting applications of psionic concepts.
« Last Edit: April 26, 2015, 12:21:05 AM by nijineko »

Offline awaken_D_M_golem

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2015, 03:38:04 PM »
Ah interesting, more to investigate.

I was batting around the idea
(wait, that might be too literally true) ... nm ...  :blush
of using the previous editions as base classes.

Call them something like:
Emanation of the Zero-ith Circle, from pre 1e original, idk squat about this
Emanation of the Uni-compoundword Circle, from 1e core
... semi-gestalt fixed workable, high bias toward say 4 schools only, paths via some of the monsters, Gray Ooze, Su-Monkeys, Brain Eaters 

Emanation of the Second Circle, from the 2e psi book(-let)
... looks quite similar to 3.0e Psion but with more specialty and weirdnesses

Emanation of the Early Third Circle, the rest of 3.0e contortions, "Psi Is Borkt" etc
Emanation of the Late Third Circle, CPsi that works (Ha?!) as if CPsi was totally isolated
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Offline bhu

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2015, 07:55:57 PM »
http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=15687.0  I has the beginnings of a Divine Mind remake here.

Also doing a psychic barbarian as a Full BAB psychic class.

Your feedback is much appreciated.

Offline SolEiji

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #11 on: April 26, 2015, 08:13:57 PM »
http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=15687.0  I has the beginnings of a Divine Mind remake here.

Also doing a psychic barbarian as a Full BAB psychic class.

Your feedback is much appreciated.

I would like to compare your Psibarian with the one I made later.  Just to see where we matched and didn't match.
Mudada.

Offline Unbeliever

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #12 on: April 26, 2015, 09:31:52 PM »
Question 2: What classes/powers/feats suck so badly they should be redone?
There's a natural gishiness, I think, to psionics.  This might just be me, but there's this natural sense that it should pair nicely with various forms of combat.  Maybe it's the githyanki thing seeping in or the monastic flavor of it put into the D&D blender.

At any rate, Psionics nicely does some pretty basic gishing -- Psy Warrior, Illithid Hunter, and Warmind are all quite solid.  But, they also seem to lack a lot of flavor or character.  The obvious lack is a Psy-Monk type of class that doesn't suck, although then you're putting your foot into the whirlpool of suck that is D&D's Monk archetype.  But, something that gives you, if nothing else, meaningful variants on the standard psionic gish, which is mostly bog standard buffing and then punching things, would be interesting.

Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #13 on: April 26, 2015, 09:58:08 PM »
Missing: needs more multitarget buffs/debuffs/crowd control. Psionics is pretty good with single-target buffs and debuffs, but has very few multitarget of either.
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Offline nijineko

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Re: Psionics: What do you feel is missing?
« Reply #14 on: April 27, 2015, 09:25:34 PM »
Missing: needs more multitarget buffs/debuffs/crowd control. Psionics is pretty good with single-target buffs and debuffs, but has very few multitarget of either.

I'm not sure it needs specific powers to accomplish that, simply different applications of the basics should accomplish the all of those tricks.

for example: empathy could be used to send out a subconscious 'do not approach' emanation, telepathy could do something similar on a more conscious level, telekinesis could be used to trip or block people from approaching, all three could be used to project pain or to construct an illusion to accomplish the same result if with different methods.