[Tome/3.X] Psychic

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JonSetanta
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[Tome/3.X] Psychic

Post by JonSetanta »

A Psychic is also known as a Psion, which sounds like Scion, so the latter shant be used.



PSYCHIC


"I can keep this up all day."


This class was designed with not much breadth or variety of ability. It allows the selection of a few things, much like a Warlock, and simply allows a Psychic to do those few things all the time.

First the Psychic selects a Discipline. This decides the exclusive powers they get.
Then they fill in the rest of their powers from the general list(s).

Class Basics
Hit Dice: d8
Base Attack Bonus: +3/4 per level
Good Saves: Will
Skill Points: 4 + INT per level etc whatever we all know how this works


Powers

Psychics must meditate to learn their powers, much like how a Wizard studies books and scrolls.
Gold must be spent on crystals and incense for periods of meditation that take the same duration as a Wizard would require to scribe a spell into their spellbook. A tutor may be used for a same fee.
These powers come from the generic Psion list here: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org ... nList.html

The highest power level learned and readied is equal to half the Psychic's level, rounded up.

Each day, 1/day, a Psychic may meditate for 1 hour to swap out a single power readied for a power known.

A Psychic may not have more than 2 + class level bonus powers readied at any one time.
This includes the Discipline powers (see below).

No more than 3 powers per power level may be readied at any time.

When a power is activated, no power points are spent. Treat the power's maximum effect as if the Psychic's level were the number of power points spent to manifest it.
A power may be manifested for less intensity as the player desires.


Disciplines
Each discipline is tied to a specific ability score for its save DC (10 + 1/2 level + stat bonus) and effect.

The Psychic's disciplines select from the following list: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org ... eList.html

A Psychic knows all Discipline powers from their chosen list.
They do not need to learn these powers through meditation.

Metabolic (CON)
• See the "Egoist" and "Psychic Warrior" lists

Dimension (INT)
• See the "Nomad" and "Shaper" lists

Mental (WIS)
• See the "Seer" and "Telepath" lists

Kinetic (CHA)
• See the "Kineticist" and "Shaper" lists
[/b]
Last edited by JonSetanta on Tue Sep 27, 2016 3:41 am, edited 7 times in total.
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Post by JonSetanta »

Update: Increased the number of powers readied from 2+ 1/2 level up to 2 + level.
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Post by JonSetanta »

Decreased BAB to 3/4 like the Monk.
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Post by Prak »

Well, the first thing I notice is that metabolic gives you, I think, a larger class power list than the other three combined.

Sorry, Jon, but i think you have to write up power lists from scratch (or cut out PsyWar).
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
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Post by JonSetanta »

Prak wrote:Well, the first thing I notice is that metabolic gives you, I think, a larger class power list than the other three combined.

Sorry, Jon, but i think you have to write up power lists from scratch (or cut out PsyWar).
Image
Well, I figured melee focused Psychics are already at a disadvantage.
They would need all the help they can get.
Even if PsyWar gets Acid vomit later....
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Post by Prak »

I'd have to look at how much overlap there is between PsyWar and Psion, but it just seems like there's a huge benefit in versatility to being a metabolic psion.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
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Re: [Tome/3.X] Psychic

Post by Ice9 »

First off, "learn as many powers as you want, prepare 2+level at once, and those can all be top-level stuff because you have no usage limit" does not match "not much breadth or variety of ability" at all. That's a hell of a lot more breadth than a Sorcerer has.

I think some people are reading it as you only get your domain powers, but that's not what it says at all.

Also:
JonSetanta wrote:Psychics must meditate to learn their powers, much like how a Wizard studies books and scrolls.
What does this even mean? Do Psychics have spellbooks? If not, what are they learning from? Power stones, I guess? Can they learn directly from other Psychics? Do they get free powers learned for level-up, like Wizards, or is that covered by their discipline?
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Post by Prak »

I read it as "meditate, learn from the Universe"
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
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Re: [Tome/3.X] Psychic

Post by JonSetanta »

Ice9 wrote: Also:
JonSetanta wrote:Psychics must meditate to learn their powers, much like how a Wizard studies books and scrolls.
What does this even mean? Do Psychics have spellbooks? If not, what are they learning from? Power stones, I guess? Can they learn directly from other Psychics? Do they get free powers learned for level-up, like Wizards, or is that covered by their discipline?
The amount of time and effort it takes to acquire a Wizard spell, but out of thin air.
They still need to make the Psicraft check (or Spellcraft if you have M/P transparency)

The discipline indeed covers free powers. Learning is only for the generic list.
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Post by JonSetanta »

Also, the limit on powers readied is on purpose; after playing 5e for a few years, and using that very same limitation for spells readied for Clerics and Druids (WIS + level actually) I found it's rather, eh, limiting.

Besides, psionic powers scale up with level. A PL1 power becomes formidable at level 11, 16, 20, and so on.


Also, Prak, PsyWar powers only go up to PL6. Besides that, they tend to suck... except for Form of Doom.
Last edited by JonSetanta on Tue Sep 20, 2016 3:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [Tome/3.X] Psychic

Post by Ice9 »

JonSetanta wrote:The amount of time and effort it takes to acquire a Wizard spell, but out of thin air.
They still need to make the Psicraft check (or Spellcraft if you have M/P transparency)
The amount of time is two days per spell. So if the party has a month of downtime, that's 15 new powers for the Psychic.
And more importantly, since Wizards can learn spells higher than they can cast, a Psychic could acquire all the powers they'd possibly want in their backstory.

If they still have to spend gold on 'scribing' it, somehow, then there is some limit on it. It's still a better deal than Wizards get, so I really wouldn't call Psychics "limited" in any significant way.
Last edited by Ice9 on Wed Sep 21, 2016 4:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by JonSetanta »

Should Psychics spend gold to meditate spells?

Or should I add in "learns spells from crystals"?
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Post by Prak »

Make them buy incense.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.

You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
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Post by JonSetanta »

Prak wrote:Make them buy incense.
In the Conan series, black lotus incense causes nightmare visions that fuel sorcerous powers. They need it.

This might not be too far off.
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Post by JonSetanta »

I've added a few more stipulations to limit the Psychic.

For instance; "No more than 3 powers per power level may be readied at any time."
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Post by Ice9 »

The incense works, so they won't have learned every power ever before the game starts at least.

However ... do you feel the Wizard is a weak class? Because what you have here is a somewhat better learning mechanic, a more flexible preparation mechanic, a better chassis (not a big deal, true), and everything usable an unlimited amount.

I mean yes, the Wizard list does have some insane stuff on it that the Psion list doesn't. But the latter is pretty good honestly, it's about equal for play that doesn't go into high-op territory. And with no use limits it gets better - once Temporal Acceleration comes online, for instance (13th level), expect to see it used every turn.
Last edited by Ice9 on Tue Sep 27, 2016 5:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by JonSetanta »

I see your point. I'll think of some more limitations, but the power-point-less at-will power usage stays.
That's the main priority.
I want a throwback to the olllld D&D edition, whichever it was, that dished out wild talents as a reward, usable at will. Not sure where I read that or which edition but power points are just math on top of math and it has to go.
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Post by Ice9 »

You could use similar restrictions as here. Not sure that's really balanced with other casters, but eh, close enough.
Last edited by Ice9 on Wed Sep 28, 2016 5:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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