Psionics and magic.

[GM DarkLightHitomi]

In 3.x psionics is just another form of magic, but I usually hear players talk about psionics as though they are something completely different.

So I was wondering if PF considers psionics another form of magic or something uunrelated to magic?

[Revan]

Well, Pathfinder has no Paizo published Psionicsrules. But in Dreamscarred Press' Pathfinder-compatible Psionics ruleset, one of the first rules is that Psionics and Magic are transparent--Spell Resistance protects against psionic powers every bit as much as spells, and Dispel Psionics strips away magical effects as well as psionic ones. This rule was also present since at least 3rd edition. But, just like the fact that a 5th level psion can never spend more than 5 power points at one time, it seems to be a rule that psionics' detractors are completely unaware of.

[Zhayne]

As Revan says, the default (and best) way to treat it is that Psionics and Magic are treated the same rules-wise, just like Arcane and Divine magic are.

The 3e rules did say that, if you chose, you could have psionics and magic be unrelated such that Detect Magic/Psionics can't sense Psionics/magic, and that magical defenses didn't work against psionics and vice versa, but they strongly, strongly recommended against it.

[Staffan Johansson]

My preferred way of doing a psionics/magic divide, at least in a heavily psionic world, is to say that the fundamental energy involved is the same, but it's used in an unfamiliar fashion. Thus detect magic and detect psionics are essentially the same, but in order to ID magic auras you need Spellcraft and for psionic auras you need Psicraft. Someone without Psicraft looking at the aura of a psionic power would be able to detect how strong it is, but not what discipline it belongs to.

Similarly, Knowledge (Psionics) is separate from Knowledge (Arcana) - and for the sake of balance, would probably have a bit of overlap with other knowledge skills regarding monsters, particularly Knowledge (Dungeoneering) (since many aberrations have psionic powers).

If I was running a game where psionics are known to exist but aren't a particularly big deal, I'd probably just include knowledge about psionics in Spellcraft and Knowledge (Arcana) though.

[wraithstrike]

Mechanically they are basically the same. Flavor wise they are different.

[ALLENDM]

Just for a clarification on my part. If you are not using psionics based on any rule set you just handle it as a form of magic (sor). You can have a psicraft in exchange of spellcraft. What about magic based and metamagic based feats are those used and simply "psi" based?

Thanks for the help!