Psionics Unleashed (PFRPG)

Eridanis wrote:

I gave in and bough the PDF of this book. I'm very much looking forward to browsing through it over my Christmas vacation. However, a quick glance showed something odd: quite a bit of art doesn't show up on my Mac when opening in Preview 5.03, while it does on my Windows 7 PC (in Adobe Reader 9.4.1) and Mac (under Acrobat 9.4.1 Pro). Just letting you guys know; it's probably not a big deal, but your layout artist might want to know, just to figure out what the difference is.

(Specifically: psion on PDF p.23, psychic warrior on PDF p. 43, overchannel on PDF p.49, etc. Other B&W art, and all color art, comes up fine.)

Congrats again!

Thanks, Eridanis.

I actually did most of the layout, so I'll look into what might be causing that... Thanks for the specific examples, it will definitely help isolate the problem.

We ran into this—or at least something like it—on one occasion. Unfortunately, nobody remembers the exact situation, but our best recollection is that it was the result of doing some effect—probably something transparency related—in InDesign that we really should have done in Photoshop. (It *may* have been using "multiply" on the image in InDesign instead of using a proper alpha channel in Photoshop.)

I ordered my copy through amazon mostly because paizo was backordered, but amazon is now sold out as well.

My copy should be waiting for me when I get home from work tonight, looking forward to this.

We ran into this—or at least something like it—on one occasion. Unfortunately, nobody remembers the exact situation, but our best recollection is that it was the result of doing some effect—probably something transparency related—in InDesign that we really should have done in Photoshop. (It *may* have been using "multiply" on the image in InDesign instead of using a proper alpha channel in Photoshop.)

Thanks, Vic, I'll see if there's anything unusual done to those particular graphics, but if I remember right, they were only modified in size and to wrap the text...

Still, it's a place to start!

I am looking at the PDF now (after getting my Bestiary II earlier today in the mail!), and so I am a happy camper. This is a great book - I only wish it had more color. I will definitely be referencing this for precedent when I build my PFRPG soulknife-simile base class, the Junglethorn. Very neat, a great revision, and a well-deserved update. Great work, all!
-will

I'm interested to know more about the Core Psionics System, and how it works with PF Compatibility / OGL. I wish to publish a psionic base class in the future without including the whole damn system in the book for it... Is this possible now in PFRPG-Compatibility, or would that be considered third-party "compatibility or co-adaptability", as it was pointed out to me (thanks, Vic) is not permissible under the license(s)?

I was wondering when this would get covered (I assumed it would be done by third-party, considering the controversy over psionics in the past), and I am glad it has - it is a part of the SRD, and might as well get a Pathfinder incarnation, considering its applicability and flavor in a campaign. I enjoyed my perusal of the PDF this evening. I look forward to more in this avenue. :)

Thanks and best wishes,
-will

I'm still waiting for the demon book to arrive but Bestiary 2 came with a nice holiday card. Thank you Paizo, I think I will use the code to get this next month.

Picked up the pdf yesterday and so far I like it. It looks to me like a great update of the psionic rules that put them on par with Pathfinder classes without making them too different from 3.x psionics. One of my players has been using your beta rules to play a psionic warrior so having the fully finished rules is great, though I do agree that the art is somewhat hit or miss. Still, I didn't buy the pdf for the art, but for the rules, and those are perfectly fine. I look forward to playtesting and buying any future psionics products Dreamscarred Press produces.

Ether_Drake wrote:

Jeremy,

Is there a 3.5 conversion guide (ala the PDF released with the Pathfinder Core rules)? If not, will you be making one available as a PDF?

Not yet, but it's being worked on. That 2-page handout of the powers that have been renamed or removed is part of it.

Awesome. That's going to make conversion work A LOT easier.

We ran into this—or at least something like it—on one occasion. Unfortunately, nobody remembers the exact situation, but our best recollection is that it was the result of doing some effect—probably something transparency related—in InDesign that we really should have done in Photoshop. (It *may* have been using "multiply" on the image in InDesign instead of using a proper alpha channel in Photoshop.)

(Slightly off topic) Actually, I've noticed with Paizo PDF's that the title case letter 'a' fails to display in Mac Preview. Main body text is fine. Don't know what the solution would be and couldn't find anything in Mac forums.

I'm interested to know more about the Core Psionics System, and how it works with PF Compatibility / OGL. I wish to publish a psionic base class in the future without including the whole damn system in the book for it... Is this possible now in PFRPG-Compatibility, or would that be considered third-party "compatibility or co-adaptability", as it was pointed out to me (thanks, Vic) is not permissible under the license(s)?

Thanks and best wishes,
-will

Just sent you an email. :)

(Slightly off topic) Actually, I've noticed with Paizo PDF's that the title case letter 'a' fails to display in Mac Preview. Main body text is fine. Don't know what the solution would be and couldn't find anything in Mac forums.

Why this happens is covered in the FAQ

For those who have asked about adding this to Hero Lab, I'm afraid we don't have the manpower to add another product to our schedule for the forseeable future, but if people wanted to try using HL's editor to enter this material themselves, we're happy to help.

Here's the "can HL add Psionics Unleashed?" thread from our forums - that might be a good place to coordinate, and here's a thread where one of our users has begun the process.

Just a quick clarification on Mathias' post. Lone Wolf doesn't have the resources available to add support for Psionics Unleashed right now. However, if Dreamscarred Press elected to spearhead the development project themselves and coordinate a formal release with us, we'd be happy to assist in making that happen.

I'm interested to know more about the Core Psionics System, and how it works with PF Compatibility / OGL. I wish to publish a psionic base class in the future without including the whole damn system in the book for it... Is this possible now in PFRPG-Compatibility, or would that be considered third-party "compatibility or co-adaptability", as it was pointed out to me (thanks, Vic) is not permissible under the license(s)?

I'm not super clear on your question here, but I'm assuming you're asking about whether you can indicate that your own product is compatible with Psionics Unleashed in addition to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

First of all, there's nothing in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility license that would prevent you doing that.

The OGL, though, specifies that "You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark," so assuming that Dreamscarred Press has claimed Psionics Unleashed as a trademark, you'd have to get their permission.

(I didn't see any indication on the product that they've claimed it as a trademark, but that doesn't necessarily mean they haven't.)

Just a quick clarification on Mathias' post. Lone Wolf doesn't have the resources available to add support for Psionics Unleashed right now. However, if Dreamscarred Press elected to spearhead the development project themselves and coordinate a formal release with us, we'd be happy to assist in making that happen.

Like I mentioned before, I'd pay $10 for an updated psionics pack, so there could be a financial incentive if there are others in the same boat.

I hope this is the right thread for this question: For the various Metamorphosis powers, is the listing of the damage on the natural attack/claw/slam/bite for small/medium creatures? The power descriptions don't say.

Just a thought, you might consider including the Psychic Template from Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary in one of your products. It's a great template to add some Psionic flavor to all kinds of monsters.

This is now #7 on Paizo's top ten best-sellers. Uncanny, but very cool. :)

I hope this is the right thread for this question: For the various Metamorphosis powers, is the listing of the damage on the natural attack/claw/slam/bite for small/medium creatures? The power descriptions don't say.

I had to check with Andreas about this, because I wasn't really sure either and will be posting an official errata on the subject and updating future printings of the book.

1d8 is if you are Medium, 1d10 is if you are large, similarly for 2d6 / 2d8.

I realize this doesn't follow the normal small / medium paradigm and it was an unfortunate oversight, but I can't justify a 1d8 attack for small, 1d10 for medium, and higher for large, that's just too strong.

So damage-wise, it'd be: 1d6 small, 1d8 medium, 1d10 large.

#6 on the top ten.

Just grabbed it. Going to take a while to fully absorb, but at a glance it's looking really nice.

gg on the big splash with this one Dreamscarred.

Hi everyone, hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

I learned that I'll have (roughly) $100.00 in Paizo Gift Certificates and will definitely be ordering at least one copy (might order a 2nd copy for a friend of mine... his B-Day is in a couple weeks and I think he'd really like a copy of Psionics Unleashed...)

Anyway... I see it's still on backorder. Any idea of how soon the back ordered copies will be processed? (Just curious mostly).

Thanks in advance.

PS: Congrats on your big success!

Dean; The_Minstrel_Wyrm

Anyway... I see it's still on backorder. Any idea of how soon the back ordered copies will be processed? (Just curious mostly).

Thanks in advance.

PS: Congrats on your big success!

Dean; The_Minstrel_Wyrm

Thanks, Dean.

We expect to get more printed books to Paizo later this week to cover part of the back order, with the remainder expected to get there next week - up to the second week of January at the absolute latest.

So what are the tentative plans for a second printing? I ask because this thing is selling like hotcakes and I won't be able to buy it anytime soon.

So what are the tentative plans for a second printing? I ask because this thing is selling like hotcakes and I won't be able to buy it anytime soon.

They've already ordered a 3rd printing large enough to sustain them through foreseable future orders. (The second printing will probably just cover backorders, as it was the same size as the first printing.)

So what are the tentative plans for a second printing? I ask because this thing is selling like hotcakes and I won't be able to buy it anytime soon.

The books that we will be sending to Paizo over the next couple weeks are not only for back orders, but also to have extra stock for future orders, so hopefully two weeks from now, it won't be an issue.

The_Minstrel_Wyrm wrote:

Anyway... I see it's still on backorder. Any idea of how soon the back ordered copies will be processed? (Just curious mostly).

Thanks in advance.

PS: Congrats on your big success!

Dean; The_Minstrel_Wyrm

Thanks, Dean.

We expect to get more printed books to Paizo later this week to cover part of the back order, with the remainder expected to get there next week - up to the second week of January at the absolute latest.

No, no... THANK you Jeremy. :)

Paizo has said they will do a psonics book in the future. Psionics unleashed is a very balanced and well done product. Is there any chance of it getting paizo PFS approved?

Paizo has said they will do a psonics book in the future. Psionics unleashed is a very balanced and well done product. Is there any chance of it getting paizo PFS approved?

There have been endless threads on the subject!

The upshot is, psionics is a big deviation from the core rules. You can include a Witch from the APG for example in an adventure and include all the abilities and spells in less than a page - you do not need the APG to play that NPC. Psionics isn't like that, or at least it just isn't as easy. That's a big problem, from Paizo's point of view, with psionics.

Psionics has lovers and haters. If Paizo did a 3.5 style psionics, this would annoy the haters. If they did a Vancian psionics, this would annoy the lovers.

So the word on the boards (although not the official Paizo line by any means) is that they will sidestep the problem. DSP have done the 3.5 style system very well for those that want it. Paizo may, eventually, release 'Mind Magic' or whatever you want to call it for those sections of Golarian that previously held to psionics. It will not 'be' psionics as such, will not use those classes and races, and it should be able to be used side-by-side with the DSP system if so desired.

It's about the only solution that can please everybody.

Ether_Drake wrote:

(Slightly off topic) Actually, I've noticed with Paizo PDF's that the title case letter 'a' fails to display in Mac Preview. Main body text is fine. Don't know what the solution would be and couldn't find anything in Mac forums.

Why this happens is covered in the FAQ

Thanks for the answer! I've been wondering about this. Time to lobby Apple: Paizo fans demand change for OS X!

Paizo has said they will do a psonics book in the future. Psionics unleashed is a very balanced and well done product. Is there any chance of it getting paizo PFS approved?

This isn't exactly an easy question to answer.

It has come up a few times, and the short answer is probably not. Incorporating Psionics Unleashed into Pathfinder adventure paths, which I would expect to be one of their biggest product lines and where it would make the most sense if they were going to make it "official", isn't straightforward unless you require the player to have the book. And as soon as you make non-core books mandatory for adventures, you start drastically reducing the target audience for that adventure.

This is part of the reason that the psionics system that some of the Paizo folks have discussed making is drastically different from the psionics system of 2E / 3.x / Psionics Unleashed. Instead of using a point-based system, they have talked about using a slot-based system. I'm not saying that's what they are going to make, since I haven't seen much in the way of definitive plans for a Paizo-produced psionics system, but that is something I have heard mentioned in conversations about the subject.

Another side of the equation is that if Paizo made Psionics Unleashed the "official" psionics system, it eliminates their ability to do such a release, which I can understand them wanting to keep as an open option, especially if they would design the system in a drastically different manner (see above).

I will say that I did approach Paizo about the topic, but the discussions never really developed, and I imagine it's for some of the reasons above. Before anyone reads anything into that, there's no hard feelings on the subject - we're more than happy to have released Psionics Unleashed as Pathfinder compatible, especially given the success of the book, and I'd like to think we have a great working relationship with the folks over at Paizo. :) They've been tremendously easy to work with on getting this release out and handling the back order.

Paizo has said they will do a psonics book in the future. Psionics unleashed is a very balanced and well done product. Is there any chance of it getting paizo PFS approved?

I would never say never, but Pathfinder Society Organized Play hasn't used any Pathfinder RPG compatible product from any other company and I doubt that they will do so here. I have not seen any interest from them that they were considering opening up products from other companies into the organized play.

I've just posted my review of the book over at RPGNow.

Nice review

Spiral_Ninja wrote:

I hope this is the right thread for this question: For the various Metamorphosis powers, is the listing of the damage on the natural attack/claw/slam/bite for small/medium creatures? The power descriptions don't say.

I had to check with Andreas about this, because I wasn't really sure either and will be posting an official errata on the subject and updating future printings of the book.

1d8 is if you are Medium, 1d10 is if you are large, similarly for 2d6 / 2d8.

I realize this doesn't follow the normal small / medium paradigm and it was an unfortunate oversight, but I can't justify a 1d8 attack for small, 1d10 for medium, and higher for large, that's just too strong.

So damage-wise, it'd be: 1d6 small, 1d8 medium, 1d10 large.

Thanks for the response. That progression makes sense now.

This isn't exactly an easy question to answer.

You did a great job of it though!

Maybe this one will be easier. Do you plan to allow other 3pp to publish things for Psionics Unleashed, and refer to Psionics Unleashed by name in running test when they do so?

Because IMHO if you can get Super Genius and/or Rite to produce some psionic expansion material for your book, you're a step closer to becoming "official" in the long run.

jeremy.smith wrote:

This isn't exactly an easy question to answer.

You did a great job of it though!

Maybe this one will be easier. Do you plan to allow other 3pp to publish things for Psionics Unleashed, and refer to Psionics Unleashed by name in running test when they do so?

Because IMHO if you can get Super Genius and/or Rite to produce some psionic expansion material for your book, you're a step closer to becoming "official" in the long run.

Yep.

It's something we are actively working on.

This Sucks I have my christmas discount but it wont work cause this book is on super back order I hear the 2nd printing is already sold out

This Sucks I have my christmas discount but it wont work cause this book is on super back order I hear the 2nd printing is already sold out

Note: I *don't* speak for Paizo, so might be wrong.

I believe you may order the bundle or the dead tree version, and the discount would apply. Again, I might be wrong, being at work, but I think this is the case.

I hope it gets reprinted as soon as possible. I was not able to pick it up right away. Any idea when the next printing will happen?

I hope it gets reprinted as soon as possible. I was not able to pick it up right away. Any idea when the next printing will happen?

Along these lines, at what point will reprints include any errata / mistake fixes etc?

Thanks!

More books are already on the way to Paizo, both from our second printing, which should arrive this week, and additional copies which will hopefully arrive next week.

The January copies include minor corrections... Psywar now has spell craft... That's about it. When we get the backorder handled, we'll worry about incorporating errata.

Just got my dead tree copy.

Damned mailman stuffed it in the mailbox. I miss my old mailman.

Just got my dead tree copy.

Damned mailman stuffed it in the mailbox. I miss my old mailman.

I just checked, and your package had insurance if it's damaged. Let me know if you want to place a claim and i'll send the info.

Is this book soft or hard bound?

Matthew Morris wrote:

Just got my dead tree copy.

Damned mailman stuffed it in the mailbox. I miss my old mailman.

I just checked, and your package had insurance if it's damaged. Let me know if you want to place a claim and i'll send the info.

Fortunately it's intact. The envelope was mangled though.

I miss my old mailman, he'd never have done that. Hells, he actually brought a big box in for Donna and I when I wasn't home. This new guy sucks.

Joey, the book is softbound. Binding looks really strong though.

...Damned mailman stuffed it in the mailbox...

Fortunately it's intact. The envelope was mangled though.

Matthew, PLEASE notify your local Postmaster or Office Supervisor with a polite informative letter or phonecall. If you can include the packaging or photos of it's condition, even better. 99% of Postmasters and Office Supervisors (and most carriers) take damaged and missing mail very seriously. A "discussion" with the carrier will be had and it is likely this won't happen again, especially since this is damage done by the carrier and not the sorting scanners/machinery.

...I haven't seen much in the way of definitive plans for a Paizo-produced psionics system...

It's far enough over the horizon that we have no definitive plans. Actually, it's so far over the horizon that we don't even know how far over the horizon it is at this point. We've certainly got nothing coming that way in the next year and a half, though.

This Sucks I have my christmas discount but it wont work cause this book is on super back order I hear the 2nd printing is already sold out

It's true that you can't use our holiday code on backorders, but the code is good through the end of January, and Dreamscarred has indicated that we'll have restocks well before then.

Joey Virtue wrote:

This Sucks I have my christmas discount but it wont work cause this book is on super back order I hear the 2nd printing is already sold out

It's true that you can't use our holiday code on backorders, but the code is good through the end of January, and Dreamscarred has indicated that we'll have restocks well before then.

Even at the rate that backorders are accumulating, enough stock should be coming in the next two weeks to eliminate it being on backorder... and I'm actively monitoring that to see if I need to get even more sent.

For those looking for more insight on this product, I talk with Jeremy Smith about Dreamscarred Press and Psionics unleashed in Know Direction 18.