Ultimate Psionics (PFRPG)

My group back in high school was never strong on the system mastery part, so the things like hidden psions cooking people to death never happened despite only really playing 3.0, or a mish-mash of 3.0 and 3.5. Instead we had everyone improperly applying just about every rule and the DM giving everyone one god-ability that made them nigh untouchable. It was still horribly, horribly broken, but in a different way. It was all about rule-of-cool with us back then, and the fights were just there so we could play the grizzled badass and smash the enemies into paste...

Ah, the days of the maximized, twin powered, mass concussion... Or spending all of your daily PP on maximized Crystal Shards at level 5...

While I'm somewhat glad those days are gone, and I know more about properly applying rules, I do miss them. Still, even with my old games revolving around nothing more than a "smash faces, damn the rules!" mentality, I wouldn't want to touch the old AD&D psionics with a 10ft pole from what I've heard about them.

It's just a shame that some people can't look past that ruleset's problems, or their misconceptions about the 3rd Ed. rules because of groups like mine that ignored half of them, and give the new one a fair chance.

Psionics played not as another magic system is a great way to stump your players who have "been there, done that". Especially if the psionic characters/creatures/bad guys are supported by some magic slinging back ups. It makes the PCs a step back and ask, "what just happened?"

It's also a great way go make people believe that psionics are overpowered.

Thedmstrikes wrote:

Psionics played not as another magic system is a great way to stump your players who have "been there, done that". Especially if the psionic characters/creatures/bad guys are supported by some magic slinging back ups. It makes the PCs a step back and ask, "what just happened?"

It's also a great way go make people believe that psionics are overpowered.

I find that is probably true with basically anything, unless it is the norm. I used to throw weird things at the PC's all the time, change the rules for the standard Bestiary examples, well for 'boss' or 'named' monsters. Keeps them on their toes. One of those things where Knowledge:Local to hear the stories about the strange 3 armed ogre in the hills west of time will give more information to the characters than a Knowledge:Nature roll ever would. I consider most of the knowledge skills to be the generalizations for the monsters. Legends and stories fill in the weird stuff on creatures.

I think if you do something like that part of the time, they probably wouldn't feel that psionics are OP. They would just think those are crazy strange monsters. And nothing more.

Think I need to start having the weird stuff again. I've fallen off of it a bit.

I had a friend preorder the book before it was released. Yet have not received it. The order number is 2758158. Is there anyway to see if it was sent?

I had a friend preorder the book before it was released. Yet have not received it. The order number is 2758158. Is there anyway to see if it was sent?

There was some sort of damage done to the first batch shipped so it went on backorder. They are working to get it out to everyone in order of order recieved. Basically you and I will probably just need to be patient and wait a bit longer. Still I feel for those of you that preordered this. I knew I would be waiting because it was already on backordering when I ordered it.

I would suggest you have your friend go in under his account and see if it is still on backorder for him it should display most of the info on whether it has shipped or not on the order info page.

There was some sort of damage done to the first batch shipped so it went on backorder. They are working to get it out to everyone in order of order recieved. Basically you and I will probably just need to be patient and wait a bit longer. Still I feel for those of you that preordered this. I knew I would be waiting because it was already on backordering when I ordered it.

I missed the part about the first batch receiving some sort of damage. Good to know.

I would suggest you have your friend go in under his account and see if it is still on backorder for him it should display most of the info on whether it has shipped or not on the order info page.

He has and it is still on backorder. Hoping to get it soon.

I had a friend preorder the book before it was released. Yet have not received it. The order number is 2758158. Is there anyway to see if it was sent?

Your friend would need to contact us (email customer.service@paizo.com or call 425-250-0800 during our business hours: Monday–Friday, 10 AM–5 PM Pacific Time or post in the customer service forums). We can't give order information out unless its to the account holder.

I just received my "non-mint" copy, and it is in IMMACULATE condition. There is a teensie-tiny dent in the dover (about the size of a pen tip) that I had to hold the book up in direct light to even see.

This book is 1) enormous, 2) fantastic.

If you're on the fence about picking up the hardcover copy, get off the fence and get one. I cannot say enough good things about it.

+1

My non-mint just came in the mail and while I have not had time to do more than briefly look through it, it looks fantastic! One of the corners is dented in a way that looks like the box it was originally shipped in was crushed. If I were expecting a mint condition copy, this might irk me, but I was picking up a "scrath'n'dent" so I am excited about how great it looks. My cat loves it too.

Bottom line, well worth the $30 dollar discount.

Just received my non mint condition book and other then the back cover being slightly and it is truly slightly warped its in immaculate condition. I really enjoy this book lots of useful information, and filled to the brim with goodness. My only real complaint is the pages, i was expecting a glossy finish as with other hardcover rpg books, but in the end its a minor oversight to an amazing book. Good Job Dreamscarred!

Huh. I'm guessing it's similar to Tome of Horrors 4 then, with a matt finish paper instead of gloss. When I first got ToH4 I was kind of unimpressed... change is bad, right? Well, it grew on me. In the end I think I might actually prefer matt finish. I look forward to mine arriving even more now.

I suspect it's the way the US printer Frog God and Dreamscarres used. Probably keeps the costs down so they don't have to print in China. Still, sometimes glossy pages stick together just a bit.

Our printer unfortunately doesn't offer glossy paper. It's one of the downsides of using print on demand instead of a traditional large volume print run.

We're looking into it for our campaign setting.

Oh wow, I assumed glossy paper inside. That sux, but I'll get over it. Any word on more replacements yet? This is getting ridiculous. I kinda wish I could just pay now so I'd have access to my PDF but then I'll just be even more upset if its not here for several more months

Not a fan of glossy paper, anyway. That works for me!

Oh wow, I assumed glossy paper inside. That sux, but I'll get over it. Any word on more replacements yet? This is getting ridiculous. I kinda wish I could just pay now so I'd have access to my PDF but then I'll just be even more upset if its not here for several more months

I was surprised too at first. It's not a big deal but i do think the blacks aren't as black as they could be. Wether that is a result of the uncoated paper or not I'm not sure. (it's probably not though)

Any updates with the printer situation? This book looks great (I pre-ordered in January), but will I get a copy by Gen Con at this rate?

So after multiple emails and a phone call, I finally got an update that they are looking into why it is taking so long to replace the damaged books. Normally it only takes 1-2 weeks and we are going on two months.

Jeremy, thanks so much for all your effort on this.

I'm wondering, at this point, if it might not be better to cancel the existing preorder I have and just place an order for one of the non-mint ones? Do you know if all the non-mint ones are color? Do you have a general idea of how bad the worst ones are? So far the two I've heard about in this thread seemed to have been in pretty good shape, but knowing my personal luck, I'd wind up with one of the more damaged ones. ;)

All of the non-mint ones are in color. If it was completely unusable (ripped or torn pages, etc.) we wouldn't sell it. Most of the non-mint damages are in the realm of dings, dents, scratches, scraped pages, that sort of thing.

They're looking into it? That's complete BS. I just went from frustrated to irate

Yeah, I feel like I'm getting the run around, but they assure me the books will be replaced since the shipment was insured.

I feel for ya man. This is the product of the year for many of us, no doubt it must be your pride and joy as well. Between all the effort, anticipation, and shared love for this book, it deserved a smooth launch. I also feel like theyre giving you the run around. I'm bout to teleport there and fuse flesh the lot of um

My sidecart vanished from my account and the untimate psionic book no longer shows as "in side cart" on the product page.
Do I need to reorder everything I lost in the sidecart or can it be recovered?

My sidecart vanished from my account and the untimate psionic book no longer shows as "in side cart" on the product page.

Do I need to reorder everything I lost in the sidecart or can it be recovered?

Go ahead and email customer.service@paizo.com. If you have an order confirmation email from when you placed the order, that will help us be able to find your lost order.

Thanks
sara marie

So I got an update today on the replacement books.

Here's the timeline of events:
Place order for books

~1-2 weeks later, books arrive at Paizo. About 40% of the books were damaged in the shipment, with damage ranging from scuffs and dings to warped covers to smashed corners. Within 48 hours of finding out, I get pictures of the books and send them off to my printer services rep along with the claim form, since the order included insurance on the shipment (and proved to be worth the extra cost). I get notification same day that the claim has been sent off for processing.

A little over a week later, I follow-up with the original rep about the status of the replacements.

Two business days later, I get a reply that it has been submitted for replacement and that the rep won't be getting any updates.

A month later, I get notification that my printer client rep has changed. I send an email to the new rep (same day as I get the notification) asking about the books, but get no reply.

Last week, I call their customer service line about the issue and get directed to contact my client rep. So I gather up all the original materials - order #, claim form, pictures of damage, and email my new client rep, along with the old client rep, to find out the status. I get no response after 48 hours.

So, after over 48 hours of sending off the email with all the details, I send another email Friday afternoon asking if they're even getting my emails or I'll start contacting anyone I can reach about the issue. I get a reply within an hour that they're looking into it.

Today: I get an update that the original claim, filed back in February, had been incorrectly filed. The claim I had asked about a week after it had been filed with no update. My new rep has fixed the claim and it is being processed. I am being told the replacement books typically get shipped out within 1 week, so I'll be following up if I don't hear anything back by the end of the week.

Thank you for the update Jeremy! ^_^

Cripes, Jeremy! That's quite the ridiculous run around you're having to do! Thanks for keeping on top of it though. I'm really looking forward to getting a copy of the hardcover book, despite having read most of it cover to cover via the PDF at this point. Great material. Looking forward to adding more Psionics to my game!

The left hand is connected to the right hand... no wait... it's not.

So basically the first service rep crumpled up the claim and threw it in the garbage, and then told you not to bother asking about it. Wow. I'm having a hard time keeping within the PG-13 format these forums expect me to abide by. What a load of crap. They ouht to he tarred and feathered. It appears that person isnt with them anymore though, and the good news is that the company itself appears much more willing to deal with the issue. It seems as if we'll be looking at a more reasonable time frame from here on out. Thanks Jeremy, that was a rock and a hard place for sure

Cylerist wrote:

My sidecart vanished from my account and the untimate psionic book no longer shows as "in side cart" on the product page.

Do I need to reorder everything I lost in the sidecart or can it be recovered?

Go ahead and email customer.service@paizo.com. If you have an order confirmation email from when you placed the order, that will help us be able to find your lost order.

Thanks
sara marie

Thank you I did that on Sunday and am awaiting a reply.

I've been waiting for the new copies to go off 'backorder', but right now I'm really tempted to order a non-mint copy.

Is Telepathic Talent an immediate action?

After several weeks of b***hing and moaning I get an email saying I should expect the books and minis I pledged for in 1 to 4 days.

We will see.

I'd be changing printers.

Looking at the pdf, page 395, the Fatalist magic weapon property has both tables listing the cost as +1 and the text listing the cost as +2, I'm assuming the table has the correct price, is that right?

Hey, Jeremy. Hope you're having a great Easter weekend. I'm just curious as to the timeframe of the Psionic Bestiary coming out.

Jeremy, just wanted to let you know, I am an Ultimate Psionics Kickstarter backer and I still haven't received my book. I am a reasonable and patient man, so no worries, this is just an FYI.

Ultimate Psionics is being made mythic!

Jeremy, just wanted to let you know, I am an Ultimate Psionics Kickstarter backer and I still haven't received my book. I am a reasonable and patient man, so no worries, this is just an FYI.

Stupid question Gambit... did you back at a sufficiently high level that you're getting the limited edition hardcover? If so, that doesn't exist yet. They're still finishing up the Psionic Bestiary. Once PB is complete, it can get compiled into UP and the print order for the limited edition gets issued.

If not, I'm sorry but I can't help you.

The situation with the damaged order replacement sounds like my attempt at buying a treadmill direct from the manufacturer.

"It should ship in a week."

"Oh, it's on backorder but we didn't tell you that. It'll ship next week."

See above, another 3 times.

"Oh, we took your money, but the order was never processed for some reason. To make it up for you, we'll discount $10 off your $900 treadmill. Oh, you want to cancel? Well, I don't know why you would want to do that. If you just give us one week we'll have your treadmill to you. It will take 10-30 business days for the refund to process anyway, so why don't you just wait?"

How some companies can get away with some of the poor service I've seen over the years, I'll never understand. Especially when it comes to flat-out ignoring their obligations.

The situation with the damaged order replacement sounds like my attempt at buying a treadmill direct from the manufacturer.

"It should ship in a week."

"Oh, it's on backorder but we didn't tell you that. It'll ship next week."

See above, another 3 times.

"Oh, we took your money, but the order was never processed for some reason. To make it up for you, we'll discount $10 off your $900 treadmill. Oh, you want to cancel? Well, I don't know why you would want to do that. If you just give us one week we'll have your treadmill to you. It will take 10-30 business days for the refund to process anyway, so why don't you just wait?"

How some companies can get away with some of the poor service I've seen over the years, I'll never understand. Especially when it comes to flat-out ignoring their obligations.

Wait, are you complaining about Dreamscarred/Paizo's handling of the situation or of what is happening on their end? You might want to rephrase your post to be a little less ambiguous and either complain about of the publishers or take a shot directly at Paizo/DP. If your intent is to complain about the publisher this could be misconstrued as blaming Paizo/DP. But if your intent is to complain to Paizo/DP then this is kinda of a poor way to do so. Just come out and say what you want to say instead of skirting the issue.

I was a Psionics Mini pledger. I received an email from DP last Monday saying the book should be shipped in 1-4 days. So I mistakenly expected it to arrive in Houston by Saturday. Since DP is supposedly based in Allen Tx that seemed like a reasonable assumption. Allen, Tx is near Dallas.

I didn't get the book so I sent an email to DP. Turns out they are using Print-on-demand. It takes 1-4 days for the book to be printed, then 1-2 weeks once it is shipped to arrive.

It would have been nice to have had this information up front and not have to drag it out like pulling a tooth.

I will still be waiting on the minis and the Psionic Bestiary. God only knows when they will arrive.

Unruly wrote:

The situation with the damaged order replacement sounds like my attempt at buying a treadmill direct from the manufacturer.

"It should ship in a week."

"Oh, it's on backorder but we didn't tell you that. It'll ship next week."

See above, another 3 times.

"Oh, we took your money, but the order was never processed for some reason. To make it up for you, we'll discount $10 off your $900 treadmill. Oh, you want to cancel? Well, I don't know why you would want to do that. If you just give us one week we'll have your treadmill to you. It will take 10-30 business days for the refund to process anyway, so why don't you just wait?"

How some companies can get away with some of the poor service I've seen over the years, I'll never understand. Especially when it comes to flat-out ignoring their obligations.

Wait, are you complaining about Dreamscarred/Paizo's handling of the situation or of what is happening on their end? You might want to rephrase your post to be a little less ambiguous and either complain about of the publishers or take a shot directly at Paizo/DP. If your intent is to complain about the publisher this could be misconstrued as blaming Paizo/DP. But if your intent is to complain to Paizo/DP then this is kinda of a poor way to do so. Just come out and say what you want to say instead of skirting the issue.

I read it as an indictment of the printer handling replacing the damaged books, and not a negative on the part of me / Paizo.

I was a Psionics Mini pledger. I received an email from DP last Monday saying the book should be shipped in 1-4 days. So I mistakenly expected it to arrive in Houston by Saturday. Since DP is supposedly based in Allen Tx that seemed like a reasonable assumption. Allen, Tx is near Dallas.

I didn't get the book so I sent an email to DP. Turns out they are using Print-on-demand. It takes 1-4 days for the book to be printed, then 1-2 weeks once it is shipped to arrive.

It would have been nice to have had this information up front and not have to drag it out like pulling a tooth.

I will still be waiting on the minis and the Psionic Bestiary. God only knows when they will arrive.

I apologize if there's been any miscommunication, but I've been nothing but brutally honest about where things stand with getting the hardcovers and other portions of the Ultimate Psionics kickstarter shipped out.

Everything was intended to ship out together in one shipment. However, everything in the project has taken longer to finish than expected, and in the interest of getting hardcovers shipped out as quickly as possible, since it's just me - Jeremy Smith, who has a day job, an infant daughter, and a 2-year old son, as well as a wife - getting all the books going, instead of trying to ship them all out myself, I'm using our printer's print-on-demand, drop-shipping capability to get things out. If I waited for everything to be on hand, then hardcovers wouldn't have started shipping out until probably next month, once the Bestiary is finished and starts printing. Instead, I'm paying extra shipping costs so that folks can get their hardcovers sooner, rather than later.

As I frequently post on the Psionic Miniatures Kickstarter, we are still waiting for five of the miniatures to be molded and cast. While all of the miniatures are fully sculpted, there is still the molding and casting that has to be done. The process takes time, as all of these are being made from concept to finished product. The final miniatures are expected to finish their molding process this month, then the casting gets done and they get shipped to me.

Please understand that it's not like Dreamscarred Press is a full-time job for anyone. As much as I'd love to do it full-time, it wouldn't pay the bills, so I get as much done as I can every day after working my 50+ hour per week day job and help my wife out with our two children. This includes handling customer service emails, getting books shipped, getting miniatures shipped, handling emails with artists, cartographers, and writers, and finding time to do actual content design for the remaining portions of the project.

I'm not saying all this in the expectation of sympathy, simply so that you can understand why thinks are progressing the way that they are. I certainly wish things went faster, but this is simply the way things are because we had exceptionally more success with this project than expected and were unprepared for the level of work it would require.

Is the non-mint version still on backorder? Or is there any other reason why it'd shipped seperately from the other book (Deep Magic) in my cart?

DSmaster21 wrote:

Wait, are you complaining about Dreamscarred/Paizo's handling of the situation or of what is happening on their end? You might want to rephrase your post to be a little less ambiguous and either complain about of the publishers or take a shot directly at Paizo/DP. If your intent is to complain about the publisher this could be misconstrued as blaming Paizo/DP. But if your intent is to complain to Paizo/DP then this is kinda of a poor way to do so. Just come out and say what you want to say instead of skirting the issue.

I read it as an indictment of the printer handling replacing the damaged books, and not a negative on the part of me / Paizo.

Which is the way I was intending it.

The printer is giving you the run-around, trying to tell you what you want to hear instead of telling the truth, and it isn't right. But they'll expect you to continue doing business with them even though they've shown that they're more than willing to ignore their end of the deal. At least for as long as it takes for you to get so irate that they absolutely have to fulfill their obligations before you start pulling out the threats. Then they'll try offering you some minor concession, like giving you a $20 gift certificate off your next print order, to try and keep your business.

I just hope things get sorted out soon, because when you're just purchasing a single item, as a consumer, it's easy to switch to a different supplier. But when you're a creator who's depending on someone else to manufacture your product it's a lot harder to switch because you then have to go through the whole proofing process again, and then there's the run up to printing, and you're at the back of the production queue again, etc, etc. So being treated like this by the printer is even worse than what I got from a treadmill manufacturer.

According to the printer, replacements should be arriving at Paizo in the next few days.

That's good news Jeremy.

I am anxious, but I don't mind the waiting anymore.

It will just be more satisfying to have it in my hands, and things that I have to wait for, always feel more valuable to me once I have them.

Glad to hear that new books will be in soon. Will there be enough for all the orders, or just for part of them though?

Is the non-mint version still on backorder? Or is there any other reason why it'd shipped seperately from the other book (Deep Magic) in my cart?

Both books in your cart are nearly 7 pounds each. Its cheaper for shipping to your address to ship them in two separate boxes than to ship them together.

thanks
sara marie

The replacements will cover about half - I have another order that should get all the rest and then some in stock.

Wait, are you complaining about Dreamscarred/Paizo's handling of the situation or of what is happening on their end? You might want to rephrase your post to be a little less ambiguous and either complain about of the publishers or take a shot directly at Paizo/DP. If your intent is to complain about the publisher this could be misconstrued as blaming Paizo/DP. But if your intent is to complain to Paizo/DP then this is kinda of a poor way to do so. Just come out and say what you want to say instead of skirting the issue.

I took it as he was comparing himself to paizo/DSP and the treadmill company to the publisher, and conveying sympathy to Lazio/DSP. I didn't find it ambiguous at all.