Dream_Merchant's page

What does Psionics mean to me?

Psionics to me is the manifestation of sheer willpower. A distant cousin of the abilities enjoyed by the gods themselves.

It is unlike any kind of magic, and indeed even trying to compare magic to psionics is meaningless. Not that they can not and do not interact, for even though they may be completely alien to each other, they are often used to deliver the similar results, but the means are as different as can be.

Whereas arcane casters tap into the force of magic, and divine casters channel the power of their gods (or nature) through their faith, psionic characters do not really do anything out of this world. Even though their powers may be truly extraordinary, these are simply an extension of their will and not an artefact of supernatural powers.

In this respect, a psionic character unlike a spellcaster is no more 'special' than a trained fighter, rogue or monk. Instead of training on improving their physical skills, psionic characters train to improve their mental ones.

How can you get me to buy a Psionics book and use it in my campaign?

You don't have to do anything special. I am an adherent of the camp that psionics needs to be incorporated in core books, so I would incorporate it as much as I can. Even no magic worlds would still have psionics (for the reasons given in the first part).

but..

What is an absolute deal breaker?

DO NOT CHANGE THE RULES. The XPH is fine. Sure it needs some tweaking but overall I think its more or less ok.

Frequent complaints:

a) PP system Nova - Powers do not scale. Period. Overchanneling is fine if you are running 1 encounter per day, but try doing this in a dungeon full of monsters and you are going to be out of PP very fast.

b) PP system vs Vancian. As I said, flavor wise magic is as different from psionics as can be.. psionics is more related to a fighter's extra hit points (and his ability to withstand more damage) than to any sort of spellcasting. I think the XPH system, which in my honest opinion is the best so far by far, covers this fact very nicely.

c) Magic/Psionic overlap non-transparency. People should really read the rules. The following from the SRD:

COMBINING PSIONIC AND MAGICAL EFFECTS
The default rule for the interaction of psionics and magic is simple: Powers interact with spells and spells interact with powers in the same way a spell or normal spell-like ability interacts with another spell or spell-like ability. This is known as psionics-magic transparency.

Psionics-Magic Transparency: Though not explicitly called out in the spell descriptions or magic item descriptions, spells, spell-like abilities, and magic items that could potentially affect psionics do affect psionics.
When the rule about psionics-magic transparency is in effect, it has the following ramifications.
Spell resistance is effective against powers, using the same mechanics. Likewise, power resistance is effective against spells, using the same mechanics as spell resistance. If a creature has one kind of resistance, it is assumed to have the other. (The effects have similar ends despite having been brought about by different means.)
All spells that dispel magic have equal effect against powers of the same level using the same mechanics, and vice versa.
The spell detect magic detects powers, their number, and their strength and location within 3 rounds (though a Psicraft check is necessary to identify the discipline of the psionic aura).
Dead magic areas are also dead psionics areas.