Take psionics to the next level with all new character options and rules. With new classes, new options for existing classes, new psionic powers, feats, items, and prestige classes, this book has something for new psionic characters and old!
Contained within the pages of Psionics Expanded you will find:
Alternate racial options for all of the psionic and core races
Six new 20-level psionic base classes: the aegis, cryptic, dread, marksman, tactician, and vitalist (a psionic healer)
Advanced class options including class archetypes, advanced disciplines, and new psychic warrior paths, wilder surges, and soulknife blade skills
Dozens of new psionic and metapsionic feats
New psionic powers for all manifesters
Nine new psionic prestige classes, including the body snatcher, metaforge, and soul archer
New psionic armor, weapons, and items, as well as a new type of psionic item to empower mind blades, armor, and shields
Building off the core psionic rules of Psionics Unleashed, Psionics Expanded gives over two hundred pages of new character options to allow you to have exactly the psionic character you want.
This review is also a bit of a review of the core psionics rulebook, "Psionics Unleashed," as the use of this volume depends on having and using the core volume. The work that Dreamscarred did with Psionics Unleashed was a godsend for my games, which have included Psionics for many decades. While the 3.5 rules that are their foundation were good, Dreamscarred managed to improve in them significantly, making them even more balanced and interesting. With that in mind, I was expecting that Psionics Expanded would just be a series of tweaks and some new powers. This is far from the case.
One of the concerns that I have had about running an all-psionics game has been the lack of coverage of core roles, notably healing and heavier tanking, and to a lesser degree party coordination. This book manages to expand the set of core psionic classes to cover these roles, and does so without simply making them a rehash of non-psionic classes. They have a distinctly different feel, and reflect the mind-based character of psionics, which is completely different from traditional systems of fantasy magic.
One of the few downsides that I can offer in relation to this product, is that between it and its predecessor, it feels like there just aren't all that many psionic monsters. Sure, the core bestiaries are to be used in conjunction with the psionics system, but I had really hoped for more monsters in general. Even with that said, I haven't used all of those monsters that are provided between these two works, so there's plenty of material to work with here.
The APG of psionics, a stellar book of crunch if there ever was one
This massive book is 220 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 216 (!!!!) pages of content, so let's check this out!
Well, how to review this? This book is essentially the "Advanced Player's Guide" for psionics, kicking off with an introduction that covers all the psionic aces and core races and their respective takes on the new classes introduced in this book.
I already did in-depth analysis of the respective component pdfs that worked as a kind of playtest for the compilation of this book, so in order to avoid redundancy, I will NOT go through each and every piece of crunch again and instead point you towards my reviews of the component pdfs. I will thus focus on glitches I noticed when first reviewing these and whether/how they've been addressed.
Let's start with "Find the Mark". The marksman's styles are still iconic and cool and...YEAH! We now also get the Kaigun, a marksman/gunslinger-hybrid! Even though "Find the Mark" was released before UC, Dreamscarred press did not rest on their laurels and now provide full Gunslinger-support for their ranged class in the form of an archetype that also includes new deeds. Mechanically sound and cool, this eliminates my one major gripe with the original pdf. Two thumbs up! Better yet, feats like greater intuitive shot and deadly throw (adding wis- and dex-modifier, respectively) to the damage cannot be combined. Wicked abuse successfully thwarted!
"Mind over Body" was my least favorite of the component pdfs, featuring a base-class called Vitalist that is essentially a psionic healer. In its original inception, its orisons had a confusing name that has been cleared up. Better yet, the broken psychic warrior path has been redesigned to avoid using the thrice-damned 3.5 ability "mettle" (evasion for 2 saves, btw.!), now working much more smoothly within the PFRPG-framework. The bad artwork for the metamorph PrC I originally criticized has been addressed, eliminating just about ALL gripes I had with the original pdf - with one exception: The collective ability of the vitalist and the tactician still does not specify whether e.g. a summoner and his eidolon count as one being towards the limit of participants or two. The same holds true for animal companions, familiars etc.
"Pawns & Power" - much like the vitalists's collective, the Tacticians has been revised as well and now works more organic than in the original pdf's first incarnation. "Unlimited Possibilities" was a glorious offering even before the refinement-process of the final book, so no surprises there regarding the quality. The same holds true for "Master the Battle" and "Hidden Intentions", which adds 3 archetypes for the cryptic and 3 archetypes for the Dead. Have I mentioned the Sadist-archetype for the Vitalist before (thankfully, for once not restricted to evil characters) and the 4 different archetypes for the Tactician, one of which provides for a cool fusion of the Vitalist and Tactician classes? Well, I have now.
It should also be noted that e.g. displays of psionic powers and their combinations are detailed in stellar fluff - combinations etc. make for a distinct feeling that goes beyond "I concentrate". The base psionic classes also get a vast array of additional options, as do some of the core-classes. The array of new powers and items that complements the pdf is also nothing to scowl at - there's a LOT of content herein.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good - I noticed not a single distracting glitch that would have hampered my understanding of this massive book. Layout adheres to a beautiful, rather printer-friendly two-column b/w-standard, with artworks being beautiful and in full color. The pdf comes with truly extended, nested bookmarks, which make navigation easy indeed.
Let me first state something and end a myth: Psionics are not unbalanced. Period. They haven't been since Dreamscarred Press took the reins and applied a rigor and attention to detail and willingness to listen to feedback that is commendable indeed. I often find myself revisiting component pdfs when taking a look at any compilation and find that glitches have not been taken care of. With only one minor exception, the guys at DSP have managed to actually address ALL of my concerns with the component pdfs. Another trap for compilations of any kind is that they just reproduce content. Not so here: We not only have the blank spaces filled, we have the content lavishly and lovingly reorganized, expanded and polished to the point of gleaming like a diamond.
In the beginning of this review, I compared this book to the Advanced Player's Guide. Well, to me, Pathfinder's identity as something different from 3.5 first started to truly crystallize upon the release of said guide. Before, it was 3.6. Afterwards, it was its own, awesome system. Much the same can be said about Psionics Unleashed. While the CORE-book was the 3.6, streamlined version of 3.5 psionics, THIS is NEW. This is exciting. This is original. This is what identity should feel like in a product. Reviewing as many pdfs as I do, I often feel myself get bored by releases, yet more feats, spells, archetypes etc. Crunch can quickly become redundant and bland, forever rehashing tried and true design decisions, upping slowly, but firmly the power creep.
Psionics Expanded opts for something different. The book opts for classes with DISTINCT mechanics. These classes are hence harder to balance, harder to judge and this is also why it took me forever and a day to write this review. I wanted it backed by solid playing experience with each and every class herein. What can I say? They ALL WORK. In fact, they work so well it's almost frightening, since doing the math and design must have been more than a massive challenge. The extended, lengthy playtest and actually using the playtest for something different than proofreading and incorporating the feedback gathered shows in every crunchy nook and cranny of this pdf. Now the pdf is not perfect: I still would have preferred e.g. a more talent-based approach for the marksman. But in the end...these are nitpicks. Very, very minor nitpicks.
I often complain about the lack of ambition among 3pps and 2012 has seen a major rise in such projects - FGG's conclusion of "Slumbering Tsar" and the "Rappan Athuk" kickstarter, Open Design/Kobold Press' "Midgard Campaign Setting" or Rite Publishing's "Heroes of the Jade Oath", to just name 2. But, at least for me, Psionics Expanded is the most ambitious project I've seen in ages, delivering classes with complex, new and exciting mechanics, massive enhancements to existing ones and balancing all of this as a Triple-A-release of the highest caliber. Designers of ANY class should take note, for here are examples on how it's truly done. This is the APG of psionics. Let me spell it out, if it's not abundantly clear by now:
I hate reviewing massive crunch-books like this due to the amount of work they require me to do, but oh boy.
This is one of the best crunch-books out there by ANY publisher for any version of d20. I unanimously allow this book in my home-game and I have limited access to the majority of content from "Ultimate Magic" and "Ultimate Combat". This is grand in every sense of the word and I only seldom pronounce such on a book of crunch. If I could, I'd give this 6 stars. I can't, though, and thus, in spite of (very) minor blemishes will rate this 5 stars + seal of approval. A required purchase for ANY adherent of psionics AND for aspiring designers of crunch. This, ladies and gentleman, is how it's done.
Psionics Unleashed was an amazing book, and has gained at least 1 psionic follower at my table. Psionics Expanded continues in the excellent thread that Dreamscarred Unleashed, and makes for a very good rulebook.
Pro's: Its long. There is only 1 short chapter, and its about alternative rules and post Unleashed tweaks (like adding actual 0-level talents instead of nerfed 1st levels). My biggest take away is that these half a dozen new classes are actually something different. Think how utterly creative and frankly dissimilar to the core classes the Inquisitor was for the APG, and apply that to these. The Aegis is basically a guy wearing an astral construct. The Cryptic is a stealthy class full of awesome. The Vitalist is just about a psionic cleric. Oh and there's even a Psionic Fighter archetype.
The racial alternatives are just as fun in Expanded as they were in the APG. The tons of new powers add not only to the new manifester classes, but give the old guard a few nice additions to boot (psionic True Strike in the form of Inevitable Strike, yes please). Oh there's even a comprehensive list of magic weapon special abilities so that your Soulknife can make a quicker choice of what to juice his or her weapon with. Finally, on the credits page, below where they credited their play testers and before the OGL declarations, the 'based on 3rd edition' spiel is just golden.
Con's: Some of the classes are complicated. Like Eidolon complicated. Aegis, I'm looking at your half a dozen pages of armor abilities as an example. The Dread class just feels kinda 'meh' to me, not as inspired as some of the others. The Prestige classes all seem odd in the fact that some have weird entry levels and cap at odd clvls (one is a 11th clvl entry with 7 PrC levels).
Nitpicks / Other: The bookmarks don't split the powers up alphabetically. Some early errata that wasn't caught before it went gold. One of my players commented the art style was entry level Deviant Art (I disagree).
Overall: 4.5/5
Dreamscarred again delivered a AAA level title from a 2-person publisher. I highly recommend this book!
Additionally, with this release, the Work in Progress has been discontinued. It's been updated for anyone who already had it - so you get the final PDF as promised. :)
Squeeeeee! I want to add this to my cart for future purchase, but I didn't see a button for that.
Never mind. I found it. I'm something of a doofus today. How many pages will be in the print addition? Will it have color illustrations? Do I ask a lot of questions? Can I borrow a quarter?
How many pages will be in the print addition? Will it have color illustrations?
Print edition will be 216 pages + title page + table of contents + OGL
While the PDF has color illustrations, the printed book will be in B&W.
PathfinderFan64 wrote:
Will there be a print/pdf bundle?
Due to technical limitations now that we're distributing through the retail channels instead of just shipping books directly to Paizo, this unfortunately isn't possible.
Essentially if we set up a print/pdf bundle with the printed book going through our distributor, that extra cost would just go to the distributor and never make its way to us. (I asked.)
Should that change, I'd be open to adding the option. :)
Weird. It still shows as the Work In Progress version in my Downloads list, not the final version. Then the download itself is all six development chapters AND the final book, not just the final the way I would be expecting.
Still, got my copy of the final version, so it's just minor quibbles.
Weird. It still shows as the Work In Progress version in my Downloads list, not the final version. Then the download itself is all six development chapters AND the final book, not just the final the way I would be expecting.
Still, got my copy of the final version, so it's just minor quibbles.
That's the way it works with the WIP.
I uploaded the same final PDF to both this one and the WIP (so you don't have to "buy" anything else.)
I see this is listed as a pre-order any idea when it will come out? I ask because I need to be careful about what Ships when, as it determines what I can order in a given month. I assume as always you don't get billed until it ships?
I see this is listed as a pre-order any idea when it will come out?
We're printing the proof copy now to make sure everything looks right. That should arrive probably next Monday.
As long as nothing needs to change, then we go to full production, which will likely take 3 weeks, then another couple weeks to get from the warehouse to all the stores (including here at Paizo).
Additionally, I've just submitted an updated PDF that corrects a few things that should have been fixed but were inadvertently omitted - dwarf/duergar dread favored class options, the nimble blade archetype losing Medium armor, the soulthief expertise ability having a restriction, and then the revision to the Ring of Psionics.
I have a couple of questions. Hopefully I haven't missed these being asked elsewhere.
1. Emulate melee weapon blade skill p. 83 The description reads "The soulknife is proficient with her mindblade in this form" So, if a soulknife chooses the bastard sword or katana form, would he be proficient with the weapon as a martial weapon (a two handed weapon) or as an exotic weapon (able to use one handed)?
2. Improved Evasion blade skill p. 84 The description reads "A soulknife must have the Evasion blade skill, the Covert Training class feature, and be at least 10th level before selecting this blade skill." Was the term "Evasion blade skill" specifically chosen to prevent a 10th level (or higher) soulknife with the Covert Training class feature from qualifying with "Evasion" gained from another source such as levels in Rogue or Monk? IOW, would the evasion class feature from another class meet the prerequisite with the specific "Evasion blade skill" term not being the requirement? My guess would be excluded on purpose but I am hopeful otherwise.
I have a couple of questions. Hopefully I haven't missed these being asked elsewhere.
1. Emulate melee weapon blade skill p. 83 The description reads "The soulknife is proficient with her mindblade in this form" So, if a soulknife chooses the bastard sword or katana form, would he be proficient with the weapon as a martial weapon (a two handed weapon) or as an exotic weapon (able to use one handed)?
Both forms. You're spending a blade skill (equal in cost to a feat) to have it, which is the same cost as EWP: Bastard Sword.
The Thing from Beyond the Edge wrote:
2. Improved Evasion blade skill p. 84 The description reads "A soulknife must have the Evasion blade skill, the Covert Training class feature, and be at least 10th level before selecting this blade skill." Was the term "Evasion blade skill" specifically chosen to prevent a 10th level (or higher) soulknife with the Covert Training class feature from qualifying with "Evasion" gained from another source such as levels in Rogue or Monk? IOW, would the evasion class feature from another class meet the prerequisite with the specific "Evasion blade skill" term not being the requirement? My guess would be excluded on purpose but I am hopeful otherwise.
Thanks in advance.
It was intentional that it's the blade skill and not from another source, yes.
I've ordered hundreds of books to be sent to our distributor, although I have not yet received the quantity that have actually been ordered (kind of taking a calculated risk to minimize the time it takes to get out there.)
I'm expecting the actual number requested at the end of the week and hopefully projected enough to cover what's needed. Otherwise, I'll be doing another print run to make up the difference.
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I do, but the massive amount of typographical and formatting errors, combined with what I feel is rules glut, is just completely unacceptable for a product expanding on an existing work (the PFRPG) and designed to be sold for actual money.
On top of the numerous (and I do mean numerous) straight-out spelling errors, there are plenty of instances where the format of the book just doesn't line up with the core Pathfinder products... sometimes, these errors are within two lines of each other in the same heading! Spell or power names that aren't italicized, class abilities that are capitalized, and so on; these are coupled with non-Pathfinder-specific errors such as duplicated words, lack of (or incorrect) spacing and / or punctuation, and the list goes on. I can't go five pages without an error.
Again, for a product that's being SOLD, this is just pure lack of professionalism.
Rules-wise, there's tons of good stuff here. A couple of the classes are really enjoyable. Many of the feats are nice. Plenty of the new powers are welcome. And, of course, the rules for talents are much-needed. But, reading through the book, the prevalent thought in my head was "this is just too much". I'll explain:
In pathfinder core rules, you've got a total of 19 base classes, 13 of which are spellcasters (7 arcane, 6 divine). This book (combined with Psi Unleashed) gives us 10 (!) psi classes; greater than any other type of caster, almost matching the total amount of spellcasters in the core rules. Maybe if this book had, say, 3 additional base psi classes (I'd vote for the aegis, cryptic, and vitalist, personally), instead of 6, I'd be okay with that.
Psi Expanded + Unleashed together gives more metapsionic feats than existing core metamagic feats. The Psionic feat list is larger than any other sub-heading feat list, other than Combat feats.
So, in two books, we've got a spell-like group of classes, that exceeds the amount of specific spell-type classes out of the five core rules books that have classes or class mods, with more feats tailored for these additional classes than those that exist for the previous spell classes. Ellipsis. (And that's not even touching the races, but that's Unleashed, and thus another comment).
So, toss in the lack of racial archetypes, add in the talent rules (which are great, but should have been in Unleashed in the first place), and include the monstrous amount of extras that are good (not exceptional, not bad).
For my $10, I'm glad I own the pdf version of the book instead of, say, another stop at a fast food place. But, it could have been much, much better.
MordainThade - I'd be interested in some of these formatting issues, because they're the first I've heard of them and may have something to do with a software issue, rather than a format issue. Feel free to let me know and I'll take a look.
A couple of issues I spotted when working on d20pfsrd.com to get the classes live:
Nightmare Constructor Archetype:
Quote:
...While merged with his horror, the nightmare constructor uses the horror’s Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution, but retains his own Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. The nightmare constructor gains the horror’s hit points as temporary hit points. When these hit points reach 0, the horror is killed and sent back to its home plane.
This statement appears to be an erroneous copy of the description of a summoner’s eidolon. Horrors, as constructs, should simply be destroyed when they reach 0 hit points, though they would be capable of being reformed.)
Also note that Horrific infusion replaces the shadow twin dread ability. This also rends the twin fear ability useless, since its effects depend on possessing the shadow twin ability. Normally, archetypes would make sure to replace both abilities if one ability is dependent on the other.
Thanks, Caedwyr. That last part of the sentence (sent back) can be ignored and I'll issue an errata as such and correct in the PDF for the next update.
Andreas noticed the same thing you did about the Nightmare Constructor's ability replacements and we'll be issuing an errata on that to correct the mistake.
GRRRR.....How come I'm still showing as preorder and my buddy says his ordered from amazon is showing as shipping. Now he can use his brain to kill us all and I'll be defenseless.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Is the print version of this book the same size as the prinz version of Psionics Unleashed, which is substantially smaller than the usual letter sized RPG book format?
GRRRR.....How come I'm still showing as preorder and my buddy says his ordered from amazon is showing as shipping. Now he can use his brain to kill us all and I'll be defenseless.
Our distributor is reporting a street date of November 5th for the print version of this, so hopefully we should be getting in the warehouse soon!
How come mine is now bumped to the December order? I put in a preorder on October 7 and it says it's in stock. I know my order has not released yet I haven't even gotten the pending email yet. Someone please help me out here.
How come mine is now bumped to the December order? I put in a preorder on October 7 and it says it's in stock. I know my order has not released yet I haven't even gotten the pending email yet. Someone please help me out here.
Strange, I have received the pending email. There must be a lack of stock, thus they are doing them in order of those who ordered the product. I ordered mine in August.
I preordered the book on August 12th and the only email I have received was the original order email. The page for the specific order doesn't say anything of the sort, but my main Orders page says that it is currently Pending. However, the specific order page does say, "Should ship from our warehouse within 7 to 16 business days," plus a few more days for the actual shipping time, so you've got to figure it could take a while. It is entirely possible I might not see my book until up to December 4th.
If it says pending there then it should be on the way to Paizo's warehouse. Since it is not a Paizo product and it's brand new they will have to order it from Jeremy's distributor first, then ship it to us themselves.
On the bright side, it should be sent by standard postal service which means the US customers should also be able to track it via USPS once it ships from their warehouse.
As a Canadian I can't do that sadly, international orders being what they are.
edit: By their estimates I have at least seven days at the earliest until arrival. That is counting from the date I got the pending email so, we still have awhile before we can confirm if anything is super wrong for those who got the pending status.
I'm truly not sure what more I can do to get more copies in stock, but I'll shake the branches again. Last I knew, there was plenty of stock available for distribution - in the hundreds of copies.
