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My general comment:
The psychic doesn't have many options for, well, actually hurting things in combat. Inconveniencing them mightily? Yes. Controlling them? Yes. Confusing them? Of course.
But beyond magic missile and a few save-or-die spells scattered throughout, you've got the mind-affecting only mind thrust and psychic crush lines of spells with which to actually put hurt on an opponent, and these are limited to single target and look a bit weaksauce to boot.
This is probably intended as part of the class design (otherwise why not just play a sorcerer). However, my opinion is that it'd be good to have some sort of general self-defense setup for this class.
Put this guy and a skeleton in a room by themselves together, and the psychic is going to have to bust out his belt knife and go chipping away to survive.
Another point of opinion:
This guy looks way too much like the sorcerer to be a distinct base class. Make a "psychic" bloodline, slap int-attribute casting on it, and what's really so very different here?
Witches don't really damage things and they are weak against Undead too. They also have some of the worst defences in the game.
Yet... Witches do okay...
Witches don't really damage things and they are weak against Undead too.
Lightning bolt. Horrid wilting. Summon monster. Major healing.
They also have some of the worst defences in the game.
With mage armor, false life, fog cloud, and the misfortune hex, how do they have the worst defenses?
First impressions, all IMHO of course.
Spells? No thanks. Name them Powers or Talents or Abilities or something else. They can behave exactly like spells and interact exactly the same with Spell Resistance etc, but not spells. Psychics shouldn't be using wands and staves.
Undercasting? Ugh. Why not make them scaling UP instead of DOWN? When you have what is effectively a spontaneous full caster, why make them burn their limited higher level "spells known" for weaker effects?
Speaking of weaker effects, it sure seems like the attack/defense "spells" are woefully underpowered for their levels.
All of the classic attack/defence forms should not be "spells" at all. They should be like Magus Arcana. Start with 1 attack and 1 defense at 1st level, then pick from a list every 3 levels. They should be scaleable, not undercastable. They could be powered with "phrenic pool" points, which could be increased to pay for escalating costs of upscaled "spells". The current uses for the phrenic amplification could be moved to feats or another mechanic ("uses/day" or something), or have their costs adjusted to account for the greater number of available points.
Psychic Disciplines. Call me old fashioned, but I had hoped this would more closely mirror the classic disciplines, rather than be like Sorcerer bloodlines. Currently, this class is (again, IMHO) a poor-man's sorcerer. Telepathy, Precognition/Object Reading, Mind Control, Psychoportation, etc etc. instead seems more in line with what I think people might be hoping for. Lore? That just looks like an attempt to make a psychic themed sorcerer look more like a psychic themed wizard. Pain? Make an archetype instead.
Again, I have not studied the playtest document in depth, and all of these are just my first impressions after a quick read through. If I got something wrong mechanically, forgive me, I'll look at it more closely when time permits.
I like this one, we have a int based spontaneous full caster. I don't have to many complaints with this one other then it could use more force based spells, few non-force damage dealing spells, a lot more disciplines, and some abilities like telepathy(Su).
The Kineticist is the only new class that doesn't have classic spellcasting. Paizo has said many times that the psychic classes they use will be using Vancian spell casting, not Powerpoints. That's why the Psychic, Occultist, and everyone else all have spell casting abilities and will continue to have them. The Kineticist is really the only exception and that's what make it unique and the exception rather than the rule.
Uh... why does the psychic only have 1/4 BAB?
Even a wizard has 2/4.
O.o
Uh... why does the psychic only have 1/4 BAB?
Even a wizard has 2/4.O.o
It has the same BAB as a wizard.
For some bizarre reason, they neglected to include the secondary attack bonus that they should have gotten at levels 12-20.
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I find it odd that the Lore Discipline is based around Wis. Building a character for the playtest, this is the class I was most drawn to and the concept I was envisioning was heavy on Knowledge skills. With only 2+int ranks per level, I find myself lacking in capability to do so.
Is there a reason why this discipline is not Int based?
Other than Will saves, I can't find any other benefit for dumping ability score into wisdom.
Mnemonic Cache sounds like an invaluable asset for society play. It doesn't seem to require you to spend time reading the documents and you can recall it with perfect clarity. I can name more than a few ways that would come in handy.
-Memorize spells from a wizard's spell book (each spell takes up one page per level, so any spell up to level 9 still gives you room for a level 1 spell. There's no need to understand it if you can reproduce the script onto paper or psychically transfer the image into the mind of a friendly wizard who can cast it.)
-The entire dungeon map (yes, you only saw it for a second before the goblin set it on fire as goblins often do, but now the party has a dungeon map at its beckon call. )
-Memorize it now, translate it late. Eliminate the need to understand ancient writing when recovering info for the society.
-Super covert information gathering. If you are captured, they had better have another more powerful mind reader on their team, because you destroyed any physical evidence before starting the mission.
I believe the psychic should have a way to enhance this ability so he can memorize volumes of text. Or contingency situations so if he has memorized documents implementing a powerful authority the information is released at the event of the psychic's death. I could go on, seriously.
Mind Palace: all I can say is someone's got a Benedict Cumberbatch man-crush, so this playtest character will likely be cross-classing into Investigator.
Since this is a general discussion thread, I will also mention that the other three disciplines are amazing and I can't wait to see what else come out of the woodwork.
Is there a reason why this discipline is not Int based?
Well, the psychic's spellcasting is based on Int, but the disciplines are only based on Wis or Cha, effectively making them a dual-stat class (though some disciplines are more demanding of higher secondary stats than others).
Discipline of Abomination is my personal favorite; a nice Cthulhu-y, Dark Phoenix-y, Quori-y kind of ability that bursts with both power and flavor.
I really like the second mechanic of undercasting (getting to swap out the lower version of a spell if you take a more powerful one is, frankly, brilliant), but I see little cause to actually undercast a spell. I suppose it's nice to have the option to pull punches, but seldom do I anticipate using it.
I'm surprised I'm not seeing (or haven't noticed in another thread?) discussion of the capstone.
Remade Self (Sp): At 20th level, one of the following spells affects the psychic as a constant spell-like ability: arcane sight, fly, haste, heroism, nondetection, or tongues. While the psychic is under the effects of this spell-like ability, each time she casts a psychic spell she can link one phrenic amplification or major amplification she knows with a point cost of 1 to that spell without spending any points from her phrenic pool. This amplification is in addition to the maximum of one amplification per spell.
Is this decision made at level 20? Can it be changed? Is it more fine grained, such as only having one of them active at a time?
If it's constant, why is there a conditional effect tied to it being active? Does it require anything special to turn it on? Is there ever a reason to turn it off? How would one do so?
I think all classes could use some more skill points Corneleus Idaho;)
Spell are with int?
I understand that. but the discipline should be the same. If not. The skill should be 4. mad a primary spellcaster is not fun. (i know that cleric has channel but it is more useful that a sort of bloodline)
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Point taken, Dragon78. I guess Bard will always be the king of knowledge.
With this class, I'm picturing a character like Shawn Spencer (except with REAL psychic powers instead of inspired theatrics.)
There are also some real world parallels you can stretch out. 3rd level psychic spell "kill goat" targets only goats and goat must make a will save or die (this was something the American government attempted during the cold war. Supposedly it worked in one trial.)
Also the forth Indiana Jones movie was had that Russian Psychic as a villain.
I'm trying to think of more examples in literature and movies that included occult character concepts. Harry Huddini, Sigmund Freud, even the great Tolkien himself were dabblers in the occult myseries. It was a different age of understanding. Light flowed through the aether at varying speeds. Phrenologist could discern a criminal personality by feeling the bumps on your head.
My general comment:
The psychic doesn't have many options for, well, actually hurting things in combat. Inconveniencing them mightily? Yes. Controlling them? Yes. Confusing them? Of course.
But beyond magic missile and a few save-or-die spells scattered throughout, you've got the mind-affecting only mind thrust and psychic crush lines of spells with which to actually put hurt on an opponent, and these are limited to single target and look a bit weaksauce to boot.
This is probably intended as part of the class design (otherwise why not just play a sorcerer). However, my opinion is that it'd be good to have some sort of general self-defense setup for this class.
Put this guy and a skeleton in a room by themselves together, and the psychic is going to have to bust out his belt knife and go chipping away to survive.
Another point of opinion:
This guy looks way too much like the sorcerer to be a distinct base class. Make a "psychic" bloodline, slap int-attribute casting on it, and what's really so very different here?
He actually probably won't be able to do much to that skeleton without dipping, at least not until higher levels. Either he'll be relatively safe behind some heavy armor and be unable to hit the thing or have light armor and die before he can do any damage. Could spam flare at the thing until buddies arrive, maybe.
At higher levels magic missile is viable. Not that this makes him distinctive from a sorcerer...
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I gotta agree with the sorcerer comment. Compared to the other classes presented, the psychic feels like it needs something more. Something that really makes it stand out. Right now, it feels like a sorcerer archetype with a phrenic pool. I'm not sure what it needs exactly, but something to make it interesting. Right now, it's kind of bland.
Also not a lot of dev commenting on this one compared to the other topics. Kind of has me worried about the Psychic here.
Just built a 9th-level Psychic (Discipline of Abomination) for my playtest tomorrow and, jeez, does this spell list need some added "oomph"...!!!
More blasting, particularly more telekinetic-themed spells (I'm hopeful that the book will have new spells that will fill this niche), would make for a meaningful addition. As cool as the will of the dead phrenic amplification is, there are many non-undead creatures that are immune to mind-affecting abilities (to say nothing of mind blank) that shut this class down.
The capstone is not very exciting. I was hoping for some sort of limited omniscience, a psychic apotheosis, or a total transcendence of consciousness. Maybe complete liberation from thought and emotion components? (Extreme, I realize, but this is 20th level we're talking about.)
Also, I was disappointed to realize that no phrenic amplification exists that would permit psychics to apply metamagic feats spontaneously at the expense of phrenic pool points instead of raising the spell slot.
I agree that this class needs more damage dealing spells but I am sure we will get more telekinetic themed spells in this book. I think they should have given us more disciplines for this playtest(and maybe we will see more before the playtest is over). I find it strange that you only get 3 special abilities from your discipline but then your also get the phrenic pool ability. Also noticed that you get your bonus spells known 1 level earlier then a sorcerer.
I want to keep the int based spontaneous caster, disciplines, bonus spells known, and using wis/cha but I don't care for the phrenic pool mechanic. So instead of that I would like to see abilities like telekinesis(1 min/lv, used in min increments), telepathy, spirit guides, second sight, psychic healing, aura reading, flight, levitation, psychometry, psychic surgery, dowsing and other psychic abilities based on your discipline.
Maybe come up with metamagic or Spell Focus that applies to psychic spells? And throw some older spells under that umbrella that are thematically appropriate? Like Detect Thoughts, Command, hypnotism, image spells, patterns.
Actually, here's how you do it: Spell Focus: Mind-affecting. Restrict it to psychic casters.
I gotta agree with the sorcerer comment. Compared to the other classes presented, the psychic feels like it needs something more. Something that really makes it stand out. Right now, it feels like a sorcerer archetype with a phrenic pool. I'm not sure what it needs exactly, but something to make it interesting. Right now, it's kind of bland.
Also not a lot of dev commenting on this one compared to the other topics. Kind of has me worried about the Psychic here.
Add my name to this list of concerns. A first and second level psychic makes you wish you rolled a sorcerer...earlier access to the phrenic pool might alleviate this concern.
Add my name to this list of concerns. A first and second level psychic makes you wish you rolled a sorcerer...earlier access to the phrenic pool might alleviate this concern.I gotta agree with the sorcerer comment. Compared to the other classes presented, the psychic feels like it needs something more. Something that really makes it stand out. Right now, it feels like a sorcerer archetype with a phrenic pool. I'm not sure what it needs exactly, but something to make it interesting. Right now, it's kind of bland.
Also not a lot of dev commenting on this one compared to the other topics. Kind of has me worried about the Psychic here.
'
+1 to adding Phrenic Pool earlier. Arcanists get power points at level one and have access to a wider spell list and aren't locked into a Sorcerer's spells known chart. The armor's gravy but the check penalty kills attack rolls and skill checks.
If it's somehow OP, just add a basic version of a power (+1 to DC?) at level one and restrict the other power options to Psychic 3rd.
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I am of a mind with TwoWolves here; I think the class should emphasize the classic 5 attack forms/5 defense forms more. As it is, the psychic can't really indulge himself with all of them without giving up a lot else. Since the psychic doesn't really have any other way of dealing damage, these should be gratis.
I have to agree with a lot of other posters as well, regarding the bland nature of the class. It really feels like this guy came out half-baked. I'd like to send it back to the kitchen for some more critical thought about how this class can be made to be more original/standout and also effective in a variety of situations.
First impressions, all IMHO of course.
Spells? No thanks. Name them Powers or Talents or Abilities or something else. They can behave exactly like spells and interact exactly the same with Spell Resistance etc, but not spells. Psychics shouldn't be using wands and staves.
Undercasting? Ugh. Why not make them scaling UP instead of DOWN? When you have what is effectively a spontaneous full caster, why make them burn their limited higher level "spells known" for weaker effects?
Speaking of weaker effects, it sure seems like the attack/defense "spells" are woefully underpowered for their levels.
All of the classic attack/defence forms should not be "spells" at all. They should be like Magus Arcana. Start with 1 attack and 1 defense at 1st level, then pick from a list every 3 levels. They should be scaleable, not undercastable. They could be powered with "phrenic pool" points, which could be increased to pay for escalating costs of upscaled "spells". The current uses for the phrenic amplification could be moved to feats or another mechanic ("uses/day" or something), or have their costs adjusted to account for the greater number of available points.
Psychic Disciplines. Call me old fashioned, but I had hoped this would more closely mirror the classic disciplines, rather than be like Sorcerer bloodlines. Currently, this class is (again, IMHO) a poor-man's sorcerer. Telepathy, Precognition/Object Reading, Mind Control, Psychoportation, etc etc. instead seems more in line with what I think people might be hoping for. Lore? That just looks like an attempt to make a psychic themed sorcerer look more like a psychic themed wizard. Pain? Make an archetype instead.
Again, I have not studied the playtest document in depth, and all of these are just my first impressions after a quick read through. If I got something wrong mechanically, forgive me, I'll look at it more closely when time permits.
This is a character who specializes in information gathering, influence, and illusion.
One concern I have is whether they specialize in being less awesome than a divination wizard.
I'm staring hard at mind thrust. It's a divination spell that " tears at their mind." That just doesn't seem right. I'm thinking it should be enchantment (compulsion) like modify memory, or if a greater distinction needs to be made from other psychic spells, transmutation (mind-affecting).
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Having to focus in two mental stats makes it difficult to fill a wide range of party roles. Starting off character creation, there aren't any core races that would naturally fit as talented psychics. A Peri-Blooded Aasimar gets +2 Int and Cha, which would give them an advantage in Abomination Discipline and Pain disciple, though I would sooner see them as a Pyrokineticist. The very nature of the disciplines is contrary to anything that a good aligned outsider would follow.
Contrariwise, Samsarans get +2 to Int and Wis, making them excellent candidates for Tranquility and Lore and fit the role perfectly. They could likely have psychic connections with their past lives.
Lashunta are a race unique to the Inner Sea. The females get +2 Int and Cha (unlike the males of the race). The fact that they have detect thoughts as spell-like ability suggests that they might have invented the psychic disciplines. (I'm unfamiliar with the nature of this race, so I'm only speculating)
All these options are pretty rare, though. PFS play is not an option for any of these races without a boon.
A human psychic could potentially have natural talent for casting spells OR using discipline. Specializing would require a great about of sacrifice in physical stats and the third mental stat.
Well, dual talent humans would be smokin' as psychics.
Mind thrust, a divination spell that does damage, awesome.
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Having to focus in two mental stats makes it difficult to fill a wide range of party roles. Starting off character creation, there aren't any core races that would naturally fit as talented psychics.
Maybe Paizo wanted to release a caster class that wasn't "Invest everything in your spell stat and dump everything else." Maybe make the class a little bit harder to twink.
Is there a reason that the Lore discipline gives a class skill based off a third mental ability score, when the other three give skills based off the same ability as their phrenic pool?
It seems to make it either wasted, or require a tax of other character building resources to make it in any way useful.
I had a psychic DMPC in my Occult Adventures playtest and many of the issues discussed here (mind thrust, dual talent humans, etc.) came up. My experience was more positive than I was expecting, but was still largely unsatisfying.
I managed to play test a level 2 Abom Psychic this weekend. My primary observation is that they need more rounds / day of their Dark Half ability.
A) It's not really a "Dark Half" if it only shows up for a few seconds a day. It's more like a nervous tick.
B) I made it partway through the largest fight in the scenario before losing my dark half. I then went back to waiting in the wings until my party needed more Detect Magic.
C) Their second discipline power augments their first. This mean that 2/3 of what makes this discipline special only shows up for a fraction of a minute.
D) As written, at level 20 you're likely to have your Dark Half for maybe 30 seconds a day. If you're running a module or AP instead of a scenario, that's almost nothing. Perhaps it'd work out swimmingly for Kingmaker or another Nova friendly adventure?
Secondary stat mod / day uses seems really limiting. I didn't have to worry about making a will save to leave the Dark Half, I just had to wait 'til the second round ended.
It seems like either a scaling amount per level or 3+Cha Mod would work a bit better.
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When I first was reading threw the play test book, I had an idea of a halfling slave that gazed to much at the stars, because of the Discipline of Abomination. Looking at this discipline left me thinking of a blaster sorcerer type character...
While playing the psychic in a scenario I was left a little disappointed. The dark half was used quickly and was in general not very useful due to the lack of rounds and damage that I could deal. The knacks available were not useful for the majority of the game(besides detect magic). With out the round by round stuff that sorcerer's and Wizard's can do there was just a feeling that, after his 1st level spells were used, he just wasn't a abomination tainted magic user...
Options that could make the dark half feel better to play would be possibly increasing the save dc to +2, increasing the number of rounds to 4+Charisma, allowing the use of the phrenic amplifications, and make it so that there is a communication barrier(thinking of the Tongues Oracle Curse).
Developer
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More blasting, particularly more telekinetic-themed spells (I'm hopeful that the book will have new spells that will fill this niche), would make for a meaningful addition.
There will definitely be more spells in that area. The psychic's spell list is going to grow quite a bit once it gains most of the spells in the spell chapter. :)
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First read, this is basically an int based psychic sorcerer, so what does make this class special ?
Well at level 1 and 2 you are exceedingly boring, most caster classes at least get some weak attack or bloodline power, but the Psychic gets nothing. That is just not enough.
Phrenic amplification looks nice, and frankly some seem a bit to good (looking at you Overpowering Mind) and I am not quite sure what to think of Will of the Dead.
Masterful Thought seems insanely overpriced, Subordinate Spell does not consume a swift action, that would allow 3 spells per round.
Disciple of Pain is worlds stronger than the others, which are to be honest rather bad, even for support powers like Disciple of Lore (which to be honest at least has a mechanism to regain his Phrenic pool.
The core concept seems to work, but it needs some more attractive and universally useful abilities.
More blasting, particularly more telekinetic-themed spells (I'm hopeful that the book will have new spells that will fill this niche), would make for a meaningful addition.There will definitely be more spells in that area. The psychic's spell list is going to grow quite a bit once it gains most of the spells in the spell chapter. :)
That's good to hear! I think there's a general consensus from playtesting experience and theorycrafting observations alike that the psychic doesn't feel quite unique enough yet. Personally, the psychic-exclusive spells feel like the most unique class feature (if they can even really be called that), but they may not be enough to make the psychic shine in a way that other classes don't already. That is, unless, there are even more psychic-exclusive spells in the final product, which part of me hopes for, but sincerely doubts will be the case.
Will of the Dead, in my mind , is on-flavor and meaningfully gives the psychic something to do where it couldn't otherwise. With a 1/2 BAB, the psychic almost certainly won't be attacking with a weapon. If it illustrates my support for it any further, let me say this: I would NOT want to play a psychic in Carrion Crown without will of the dead. In other campaigns, YMMV, but I anticipate that undead will feature prominently in some occult games.
Also, Sebastian, lots of good observations, most of which I agree with. That and your avatar provokes a double-take from me. Every time.
First read, this is basically an int based psychic sorcerer, so what does make this class special ?
Well at level 1 and 2 you are exceedingly boring, most caster classes at least get some weak attack or bloodline power, but the Psychic gets nothing. That is just not enough.
Phrenic amplification looks nice, and frankly some seem a bit to good (looking at you Overpowering Mind) and I am not quite sure what to think of Will of the Dead.
Masterful Thought seems insanely overpriced, Subordinate Spell does not consume a swift action, that would allow 3 spells per round.
Disciple of Pain is worlds stronger than the others, which are to be honest rather bad, even for support powers like Disciple of Lore (which to be honest at least has a mechanism to regain his Phrenic pool.
The core concept seems to work, but it needs some more attractive and universally useful abilities.
I tried out a Chainmail'd Psychic on Saturday. It was kind of fun to play a heavily armored back of squish with a mind thrust attack. I imagine it will get old real quick. Lucky for me this was a mod, so I leveled after one session.
Next level: Sleep! (wheee).
The Psychic definitely needs more juice at low levels.
Psychic magic doesn't have a spell failure chance correct? So you could take armor proficiencies for this class?
Non-proficiency only applies the ACP to your attack rolls, so you don't even need any proficiency if you don't plan on making touch attacks.
Psychic magic doesn't have a spell failure chance correct? So you could take armor proficiencies for this class?
You can. Since they're so squishy and low BAB with no real weapon proficiencies I chose to grab the armor and deal with the basement attack rolls. If I do another session I'll probably upgrade to full plate and start enhancing that to stay alive; mage armor won't cut it.
Skimming through the Psychic spell list, I don't even see any spells that offer an attack roll. No arcane penalty means it's better to invest in heavy armor than in a high Dexterity modifier. Psychics beg for min-max builds, moreso than Sorcerers or even Wizards.
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I made a Psychic character and it looks pretty fun.
Female elf psychic 8
N Medium humanoid (elf)
Init +1; Senses low-light vision; Perception +7
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Defense
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AC 11, touch 11, flat-footed 10 (+1 Dex)
hp 34 (8d6)
Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +9; +2 vs will save or +6 vs. enchantments
Immune sleep
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Psychic Spells Known (CL 8th; concentration +8)
4th (4/day)—mass daze (DC 19), mind thrust IV (DC 19)
3rd (6/day)—deep slumber (DC 18), ego whip I (DC 18), mental barrier I
2nd (7/day)—detect thoughts, invisibility, suggestion (DC 17), thought shield I
1st (7/day)—animate rope, charm person (DC 16), sleep (DC 16), shield, unseen servant
0 (at will)—dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, message, open/close (DC 14), prestidigitation, read magic, resistance
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Statistics
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Str 11, Dex 12, Con 11, Int 18, Wis 16, Cha 11
Base Atk +4; CMB +4; CMD 15
Feats Alertness, Spell Focus (divination), Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Penetration
Skills Diplomacy +8, Fly +12, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Linguistics +15, Perception +7, Sense Motive +16, Spellcraft +15 (+17 to identify magic item properties), Survival +14; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +2 Spellcraft to identify magic item properties
Languages Azlanti, Common, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Osiriani, Ancient, Sylvan, Thassilonian, Undercommon
SQ elven magic
Other Gear 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Elven Magic +2 to spellcraft checks to determine the properties of a magic item.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail
Spell Focus (Divination) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Spell Focus (Enchantment) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Psychic Discipline (Discipline of Tranq)
Phrenic Pool (7)
Phrenic Amplification (Will of the Dead, Overpowering Mind)
Mental Placidity +2 will/ +4 enchantment/ regain 1 phrenic point
Calming Presence calm emotion spell like ability 3/day
Will of the dead 1 point 50%/ 2 points 75%/ 3 points 100% for enchantment vs undead
Overpowering mind increase will DC by point spent max +2 DC
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From my larger review at http://www.5mwd.com/archives/2204
The psychic is, of course, the psych magic equivalent of the sorcerer or wizard. It’s a spontaneous caster so it’s closer to the sorcerer.
As a full caster, the psychic doesn’t get a lot other than spells. And because it’s spell list is meant to emphasise it’s a psychic caster, it’s somewhat limited. So it’s a sorcerer with fewer options of spell schools. Thankfully, while limited, there’s enough of a range of spell choices for a few different types of caster. Honestly, it gets such a broad range of different spells I wonder why they didn’t just say it could pick from the sorcerer/wizard spell list and add a few choice extras in.
The psychic gets two unique mechanics: its discipline and its phrenic pool. Disciplines are basically the psychic’s version of a school/bloodline granting new spells and minor powers (along with determining the ability score used for the phrenic pool). Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. The disciplin or lore for example: it’s lets you use your Wisdom for your phrenic pool but grants a bonus on Use Magic Device checks (a Cha skill). Neither seem particularly lore-ish
The phrenic pool seems like a casual nod to psionic power points of classic d20 psionic powers, but not being usable to cast spells. They’re spendable for some minor benefits. Very minor. Almost forgettable. There’s so few options and they’re so limited it would be very easy to build a character that doesn’t have any use for their phrenic pool. Like the discipline of abomination that does gain a spell that would benefit from its phrenic pool unto 10th level.
As the two options are connected, with the discipline determining the phrenic pool’s ability score, it’s odd that the discipline powers don’t use phrenic points. It makes the two class features needlessly dissociative. I think it’d be much more interesting if disciplines offered set uses for the phrenic pool, providing different ways of spending the points.
The more I think about, the more I like the idea of psychics being able to affect oozes.