My wish for the handling of psionics in Pathfinder

[dpnorton82]

Having recently stumbled into the awesomeness that is Pathfinder, I wish to express my unsolicited opinion on the inevitable addition of psionic capabilities to the ruleset.

Please, please, PLEASE do not do "that thing" where psionics are their own variant experience that piggybacks on the core mechanic of the game. I'm not opposed to psionics, though I'm not a huge fan, but I'd find the concept much more palatable if it didn't include some clunky/odd rules addition to the 500+ page rulebook I've already endeavored to master.

As an aside, if psionics could be addressed with a medieval-ish flavor that would be greatly appreciated. The pseudo-science textbook treatment it was given in D&D editions of the past really distracted from the fantasy of my games. Given that Pathfinder is a fresh and new take, I urge the powers that be to do something fresh and new with the possibilities.

Powers and flavor that resemble mysterious, if not alien magics and an execution that does not deviate from the established mechanic. ... Yeah, I'd buy it!

[Evil Lincoln]

I trust Paizo will draw heavily from fantasy fiction, and whatever science fiction that has traditions in the game already. That's how Pathfinder is, and that's how I like it!

[Maerimydra]

As long as psionics are not a copy-paste version of the sorcerer/wizard, like they were in 3.X, I'm all in!

Psionics should be able to do crazy stuff without the help of spellcasting, just like the monk is able to jump very high without casting fly on himself.

[LazarX]

Oh... no... not another one of these threads.

Right now the only things about this that are clear.

Psionics ain't coming soon from Paizo. If it's coming at all it's years off.

And that Paizo's own creative staff are almost as divided on how to approach the topic as the posters on this message board.

In the meantime unless your only play is PFS and PFS only, you've GOT psionics options available NOW. Ranging from tweaking the SRD on your own, or picking up 3rd party products like the new one from Dreamscarred.

[Disciple of Sakura]

LazarX wrote:

Oh... no... not another one of these threads.

Right now the only things about this that are clear.

Psionics ain't coming soon from Paizo. If it's coming at all it's years off.

And that Paizo's own creative staff are almost as divided on how to approach the topic as the posters on this message board.

In the meantime unless your only play is PFS and PFS only, you've GOT psionics options available NOW. Ranging from tweaking the SRD on your own, or picking up 3rd party products like the new one from Dreamscarred.

Which has been the #1 bestselling 3rd party title on Paizo's website since it launched. It's a pretty schway book, IMHO. But then, I liked the 3.x Psionics system greatly, and so does just about everyone I play with.

[Hexcaliber]

IMHO

Paizo should adopt Dreamscarreds Psionics Unleashed as the official psionics book for Pathfinder. Yeah, the art isn't paizo quality, but the content sure is. They did a heck of a job on it and didn't release the book until everything had been thoroughly playtested. Excellent work.

[LazarX]

Hexcaliber wrote:

IMHO

Paizo should adopt Dreamscarreds Psionics Unleashed as the official psionics book for Pathfinder. Yeah, the art isn't paizo quality, but the content sure is. They did a heck of a job on it and didn't release the book until everything had been thoroughly playtested. Excellent work.

If there's any possible outcome to the Paizo question on this issue, I'd put this down as the least-likely possibility.