I had an NPC use Swarm of Crystals on the party, looked up the power and found that it didn't allow a save, despite being a cone-shaped area attack. I know it is in d4s and slashing for damage, but it seemed strange. not particularly powerful, just strange.
3rd party, so not necessarily in line with standard Paizo practice.
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It was in WotC's Expanded Psionic Handbook as-is, so some would consider it more first party than Paizo's work.
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Remember that it does piercing damage. So, any applicable DR will apply to the effect.
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Remember that it does piercing damage. So, any applicable DR will apply to the effect.
Slashing, but yes. It also does less than normal damage (d4s instead of d6s), with a small area (15' cone). So the fact it doesn't have an attack roll or saving throw is somewhat balanced out.
We also have a similar spell to this effect in Stone Call, which does 2d6 damage in an area with no save or even spell resistance. I'm not sure if a psionics level 2 power is equivalent to a 2nd level spell, but It isn't unprecedented in Pathfinder's spell lists.
It does seem reasonably strong for level, though, given that it's a 3d4 without a save, and an equivalent Burning Hands does as much damage. In addition, it seems to be scalable, and without a limit as well. Given I have no idea how psionics work I can't really comment but at the very least it fits with what Paizo deems suitable for a 2nd level spell.
As someone who is passingly familiar with DSP Psionics, let me give my $0.02
We also have a similar spell to this effect in Stone Call, which does 2d6 damage in an area with no save or even spell resistance. I'm not sure if a psionics level 2 power is equivalent to a 2nd level spell, but It isn't unprecedented in Pathfinder's spell lists.
Yep, Psionics follows the full/hybrid/partial caster paradigm and 9 spell levels. The big difference is that psionics uses a point based system instead of slots, and you get the equivalent of CL scaling by expending more points (up to a max of the creature's caster manifester level).
It does seem reasonably strong for level, though, given that it's a 3d4 without a save, and an equivalent Burning Hands does as much damage. In addition, it seems to be scalable, and without a limit as well. Given I have no idea how psionics work I can't really comment but at the very least it fits with what Paizo deems suitable for a 2nd level spell.
3d4 is roughly equivalent to 3d6/save for half, and unlike spells it doesn't need a CL cap because casting a 17d6 effect costs as much as a 9th level spell. Basically, think of it as a hypothetical "stone spray" 2nd level conjuration spell that deals Xd6 in a 15ft cone, save for half, no spell resistance. As an upgrade to burning hands, it is pretty reasonable.
We also have a similar spell to this effect in Stone Call, which does 2d6 damage in an area with no save or even spell resistance. I'm not sure if a psionics level 2 power is equivalent to a 2nd level spell, but It isn't unprecedented in Pathfinder's spell lists.
It does seem reasonably strong for level, though, given that it's a 3d4 without a save, and an equivalent Burning Hands does as much damage. In addition, it seems to be scalable, and without a limit as well. Given I have no idea how psionics work I can't really comment but at the very least it fits with what Paizo deems suitable for a 2nd level spell.
Just felt it important to point out that the limit of scaling is this: You cannot spend more Power Points on any one effect than your manifestor level.
Just felt it important to point out that the limit of scaling is this: You cannot spend more Power Points on any one effect than your manifestor level.We also have a similar spell to this effect in Stone Call, which does 2d6 damage in an area with no save or even spell resistance. I'm not sure if a psionics level 2 power is equivalent to a 2nd level spell, but It isn't unprecedented in Pathfinder's spell lists.
It does seem reasonably strong for level, though, given that it's a 3d4 without a save, and an equivalent Burning Hands does as much damage. In addition, it seems to be scalable, and without a limit as well. Given I have no idea how psionics work I can't really comment but at the very least it fits with what Paizo deems suitable for a 2nd level spell.
It is still "without a limit" of sorts. Most spells put a cap on damage (like 10d6, for fireball or 5 missiles for magic missile). Psionics doesn't generally put an artificial limit on things like that - you could theoretically pump the power up to dozens of d6s or missiles, provided your manifested level was high enough. Even if you had a caster level of 100, your fireball would still only do 10d6 damage. A psions energy ball (with the same 100 manifester level) could do 100d6 damage.
Yes, manifester level is a limit, but so is caster level. Psionic powers do way with the cap on damage magic has, however. So it is in effect, limitless.
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It is still "without a limit" of sorts. Most spells put a cap on damage (like 10d6, for fireball or 5 missiles for magic missile). Psionics doesn't generally put an artificial limit on things like that - you could theoretically pump the power up to dozens of d6s or missiles, provided your manifested level was high enough. Even if you had a caster level of 100, your fireball would still only do 10d6 damage. A psions energy ball (with the same 100 manifester level) could do 100d6 damage.
Yes, manifester level is a limit, but so is caster level. Psionic powers do way with the cap on damage magic has, however. So it is in effect, limitless.
For the amount of power points the psion is burning just to boost that one swarm of crystals, it could instead be manifesting a much more combat-effective higher-level power.
For a much smaller amount of expendable PC resources, a similarly leveled wizard/sorcerer/arcanist/psychic can fire off an autoleveling-damage 2nd-level spell and only burn through one 2nd-level slot, leaving all its higher-level autoleveling-damage spells unused.
(Edit: Deleted yet another "Psionics ain't overpowered" rant)
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you could theoretically pump the power up to dozens of d6s or missiles, provided your manifested level was high enough. Even if you had a caster level of 100, your fireball would still only do 10d6 damage. A psions energy ball (with the same 100 manifester level) could do 100d6 damage.
The amount of effort to be able to put into something like that is extremely prohibitive. Moreover, you have to pump additional power points into the manifesting, making it a much higher level power.
A 5th level spell, with a 15d6 damage limit is and always will cost 1 5th level spell slot.
A Swarm of Crystals power that reaches 15d4 will cost 18 power points, which is the quivalent of a 9+ level spell, and require you to be level 18 manifester. 15d6 by a wizard comes 3 levels earlier, and with 1 feat, you can go as high as 20 at level 18.
So, while "technically limitless" in completely unrealistic scenarios, it is much more costly for a manifester to reach the same damage range as a wizard/sorcerer.