In a game I play in I've asked the GM if we could use psionics for characters, and he has adamantly refused. He says he's seen psionic characters wreck and ruin other games he's been in by making all the other party members useless. In search of the source of this problem, I found sources saying that psionics were balanced around an assumption that characters would encounter 4 at-CR encounters, or 2 CR+2 encounters, in each day of action. The games that the GM runs, and the ones in which he experienced psionics being overpowered, are usually far more roleplay driven, and have few combat encounters, with typically a single at-CR or CR+2 encounter in a day where any action even happens at all. This let the psionic character in his previous game unleash a volley of nothing but highest-level and max-augmented powers in every encounter, and resolved all combat nearly instantaneously, making all the other players feel useless.
In games where one is far less likely to have a large number of encounters in any one day, could one slow down the progression of power points/day that a psionic character gets, so that power points still have to be considered and conserved even with one or rarely two encounters? How would you go about doing this?
I will try to explain, but I know this post does it better: Psionics is Overpowered! (Except when it isn't)
The thing is, a fully augmented psionic power is literally equal to the power of a spellcaster's highest level spell.
Their DC is the same. Their effects are the same or weaker. If a damaging spell, the damage dice are the same. The math is scaled this way.
In no way is a psion better than a wizard or sorcerer in a 1 encounter per day setting.
Putting in everything for a psionic power still has a limit that makes sure their DCs and effects do not surpass a wizards highest level spells. You cannot spend more power points on a power than your class level. There is one class that bypasses this, but at a fair cost. There is a feat to bypass this, but also at a fair cost. And neither allow you to put in more than a few more power points.
I will try to explain, but I know this post does it better: Psionics is Overpowered! (Except when it isn't)
From the very same thing you linked,
The psionic classes were balanced based upon the general guidelines that parties should have four encounters per day of an equal challenge rating to the average party level, or two encounters per day of a challenge rating two higher than the average party level. In situations where a manifester only has one or two encounters in a day’s time, they have the capacity to out-damage the majority of the other characters without fear of running out of power points.
I will try to explain, but I know this post does it better: Psionics is Overpowered! (Except when it isn't)From the very same thing you linked,
The psionic classes were balanced based upon the general guidelines that parties should have four encounters per day of an equal challenge rating to the average party level, or two encounters per day of a challenge rating two higher than the average party level. In situations where a manifester only has one or two encounters in a day’s time, they have the capacity to out-damage the majority of the other characters without fear of running out of power points.
Yes, past that it explains how spending power points on powers work. That is the most important statement because it is what makes psionic powers able to be equal to wizard spells instead of better than them. And besides, that is where other spellcasters are balanced too. Wizards and such all make that assumption. In fact, every class is supposed to be balanced around that.
The point of my post is to explain that if your GM allows wizards, clerics, oracles, shamans, sorcerers, or witches, but not psionics, then there is a fault in his logic. In fact, a lot of psionic powers are strictly worse than the spellcaster counterparts. Haste and overland flight are self only when used by psionics. Literally, a psionic character that puts their all into energy sphere (fire) will create an effect exactly equal to a wizard's fireball at the same level.
Psionics is essentially power/magic point based spellcasting. They won't show up mages, or any other spellcaster class, especially since ACCESS to powers is quite limited based on what class you play. Unlike wizards, magi, alchemists, witches, and arcanists, who can gain an unlimited number of spells, or clerics, rangers, paladins, druids and shaman that get access to all of their spell list, psions, wilders, etc get a limited number of powers based on their level, very similar to sorcerers. Sorcerers get 34 spells vs a psions's 36 powers at 20th level, and they get far less 0 level cantrip equivalents (not that it really matters at that level), plus the sorcerer gets bloodline powers and additional spells from his bloodline. It's pretty much a wash other than some of the psionic feats that are easily duplicated by things like Vital Strike, etc.
In a game I play in I've asked the GM if we could use psionics for characters, and he has adamantly refused. He says he's seen psionic characters wreck and ruin other games he's been in by making all the other party members useless. In search of the source of this problem, I found sources saying that psionics were balanced around an assumption that characters would encounter 4 at-CR encounters, or 2 CR+2 encounters, in each day of action. The games that the GM runs, and the ones in which he experienced psionics being overpowered, are usually far more roleplay driven, and have few combat encounters, with typically a single at-CR or CR+2 encounter in a day where any action even happens at all. This let the psionic character in his previous game unleash a volley of nothing but highest-level and max-augmented powers in every encounter, and resolved all combat nearly instantaneously, making all the other players feel useless.
In games where one is far less likely to have a large number of encounters in any one day, could one slow down the progression of power points/day that a psionic character gets, so that power points still have to be considered and conserved even with one or rarely two encounters? How would you go about doing this?
Your GM is setting up his games to make nova-capable characters shine in combat, while more constant characters (melee, ranged, etc.) subpar. If he's not going to change his game style, cut the power points in half. Similarly, cut spellcaster spells per day in half (round up.)
Otherwise, he's setting it up so casters/manifesters are ALWAYS going to outshine non-casters/non-manifesters.
In a game I play in I've asked the GM if we could use psionics for characters, and he has adamantly refused. He says he's seen psionic characters wreck and ruin other games he's been in by making all the other party members useless. In search of the source of this problem, I found sources saying that psionics were balanced around an assumption that characters would encounter 4 at-CR encounters, or 2 CR+2 encounters, in each day of action. The games that the GM runs, and the ones in which he experienced psionics being overpowered, are usually far more roleplay driven, and have few combat encounters, with typically a single at-CR or CR+2 encounter in a day where any action even happens at all. This let the psionic character in his previous game unleash a volley of nothing but highest-level and max-augmented powers in every encounter, and resolved all combat nearly instantaneously, making all the other players feel useless.
In games where one is far less likely to have a large number of encounters in any one day, could one slow down the progression of power points/day that a psionic character gets, so that power points still have to be considered and conserved even with one or rarely two encounters? How would you go about doing this?
Sounds like your GM may know the type of game he wants to play, but doesn't understand the fundamental basics and mechanics of the game he has chosen to run. A core caster can make just as much of a mess of his game as is, as a psionic character could. It doesn't mean they are a "bad" GM, just they don't grasp that the core rules are balanced on the exact same basis as psionics are. Core casters are balanced around the same encounter model, this isn't anything new or special. It is even in the CRB if I remember correctly (probably under the GM'ing and designing encounters/world creation section)
If you calculate the number of "mp" regular spellcasters get, you'll find out that manifesters get about HALF of that amount. And they have to pay from that half to augment powers, while spellcasters get it for free. So if your GM is concerned about balance
Note that there are no psionic equivalents of color spray, glitterdust, invisibility, stinking cloud, slow, haste (that affects whole party without jumping through hoops), fog bank, solid fog, and gods know how many other non-damaging spells, so "just manifest powers that don't need augmenting" argument is invalid.
You can't stack more than two metapsionic feats on a power, and you have to get two feats to stack more than one. There are no metapsionic rods. There are no metapsionic cost reducing feats (and traits). There is no Dazing Power (well, there is, but it only works on single-target mind-affecting powers).
Really, if you GM bans psionics not because he's too lazy to read it but because he thinks it's OP, he doesn't know s+&~ about this game. Same goes for PoW.
Another way of dealing with this that might be reasonable is: houserule that a manifester (or caster) can't use more than a quarter of his/her power points (or spells) in a single encounter*. Obviously figuring out how to work the spells thing is complicated because a 5th-level slot isn't as valuable as a 1st-level slot, but hey. Balanced is balanced, yes?
*Exception might not be unreasonable for BBEG end-game fights.
I actually wouldn't recommend that, because bad rolls by the players, or good rolls by the enemies, might require a higher resource expenditure than expected... that's why the 4-per-day tends to balance out - you'll typically get some good rolls, some bad rolls, etc...
@Op That's a huge shame. My suggestion in such a game is actually to run a Wizard or Arcanist. Don't do it with any ill intent and just run a mechanically viable character that works exceedingly well in a minimal encounter environment.