I did one based on Jean Gray using the Abomination Dicipline to replicate Dark Phoenix building on mind thrust.
Never got to play it but it should work in theory.
In truth though its much easier to do control with a psychic than damage, abusing spells like Etheric Shard.
If you go to my profile and scroll through my threads it should be in there somewhere O.o I'd link you but I'm on my phone and can't be bothered.
The nice thing about psychic magic is the lack of verbal and somatic components. A Kitsune with the Keen and Superior Shapeshifter racial traits, combined with the Deceitful and Cunning Caster, is pretty fun. Lets you cast in the presence of people as a fox.
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I've got a rebirth psychic which is powerful and flavorful. You get a version of bardic knowledge, AND can add a spell from any other caster to your spell list, one level below your highest level spell. You get to switch the spell 1/day, when you prep, and get to switch the class when you level up. Longstrider? Lesser resto? Angelic aspect? Breath of Life? They can be yours!
If you're interested in a controller, kitsune would be a great way to boost your DC's, and the idea of casting from fox form (possibly whilst pretending to be another person's familiar) sounds like great fun!
Abomination and Rebirth are both very nice. A limiting factor on each is that they don't get to regain phrenic pool points during the day like, say, a Faith or Self-Perfection discipline psychic does.
As a psychic you're an Int-based sorcerer who isn't into blasting and who can cast subtly easily if you spend a couple of feats. The psychic list isn't quite up to the sorc/wiz list but it is pretty good, especially at save-or-suck spells and utility. You can just wear leather armor or a mithral shirt since you have no ASF, mage armor isn't necessary. Do watch out for mind affecting effects though, and get the placebo effect spell to neutralise their effect on your casting.
They do get Remove fear at level one. So potentially (although I wouldn't recommend this) could take logical spell at 3 and be able to spontaneously remove fear from level 4 on. Fear being the biggest threat to psychic casters.
You can just wear leather armor or a mithral shirt since you have no ASF
Once you get high level enough that you won't need to spend any actions attacking people with your 1/2 BAB, you can just slap on full plate even though you don't have proficiency. As long as you don't make attack rolls or attempt dex or str skill checks, there is literally no drawback.
They do get Remove fear at level one. So potentially (although I wouldn't recommend this) could take logical spell at 3 and be able to spontaneously remove fear from level 4 on. Fear being the biggest threat to psychic casters.
Placebo Effect doesn't have a emotional (S) component and it's just 2nd level. You save a feat using it instead of Logical Remove Fear.
On the other hand, Remove Fear gives a bonus to Saves against Fear effects hitting after it is cast, and until 10th level it also lasts longer. And Logical Spell is useful in case you need to cast something other than Remove Fear Right Now, or if you you know that whatever hit you with a Fear effect is going to hit you with it again right away and is likely to make it stick (Remove Fear also makes it less likely to stick).
They do get Remove fear at level one. So potentially (although I wouldn't recommend this) could take logical spell at 3 and be able to spontaneously remove fear from level 4 on. Fear being the biggest threat to psychic casters.
Potion of Remove Fear + Spring-loaded wrist sheath accomplishes the same thing.
I played a psychic in PFS up to level 20. I wouldn't call it "optimal" but it certainly performed well. The guiding principle when progressing is "what can't I deal with yet?" and then pick something to address it. This is why you see spells like Greater Object Possession (a.k.a. Golem-be-Gone) and Ectoplasmic Eruption (Ghost-be-Gone). At high levels, do not underestimate the ridiculousness of Spell Perfection (Ill Omen) for quickened save manipulation, particularly with its interaction with the Persistent metamagic feat (roll twice and take the worst, then roll twice and take the worst again if you succeeded the first time). This is a beautiful way to eat those first level spell slots at higher levels and makes things go from "decently likely" to "almost guaranteed."
A lot of people talk up Abomination, but I really prefer Tranquility and Self-Perfection for defensive capabilities. The more I've looked at it, Rivethun is pretty flippin' cool, too, as it offers significant mutability over time. Self-Perfection offers a killer set of bonus spells (many of which are considered must-picks) along with the disease/poison immunity that can save your life. Tranquility's 13th level power shuts off a large number of anti-Psychic things, like dragon auras and such, though you can get around this with Intellect Fortress or similar, as well. Rivethun just lets you be everything and, at 5th level, you can consistently have Channel Energy by taking a Life wandering spirit during metamorphosis. 13th level opens up a lot more options, including the removal of breathing and addition of see in darkness on Heavens, get a swim speed and waterbreathing as Waves, or several other entertaining options. A bunch of these options artificially inflate your spells known - Lore providing Divination at 90% effectiveness is a good reason not to take Divination, after all.
You can just wear leather armor or a mithral shirt since you have no ASFOnce you get high level enough that you won't need to spend any actions attacking people with your 1/2 BAB, you can just slap on full plate even though you don't have proficiency. As long as you don't make attack rolls or attempt dex or str skill checks, there is literally no drawback.
There's Initiative, but that's not as big a deal sometimes as Dex checks go.
To be fair on the subject of defenses at level 13 an abomination psychic's SR when dark halfing is 29.... so taking a CR13 that looks like it would be doing a decent amount of casting. The Ashmede Devil, to beat the psychics SR they'd have to roll a 16. Thats a pretty decent defense.
+they get some super underwhelming DR that you'll hopefully not get much use out of xD. For me the Abomination's only real downside is not way to recharge your pool. Oh and some of the spells it grants are so terrible you'll likely never cast them (orb of the void >.>). but then some of them are good too, like Black Tentacles.
I did one based on Jean Gray using the Abomination Dicipline to replicate Dark Phoenix building on mind thrust.
Never got to play it but it should work in theory.
In truth though its much easier to do control with a psychic than damage, abusing spells like Etheric Shard.
We have a psychic in the group I DM for.
The first two books of the AP we are doing had maybe a half-dozen encounters combined that were not completely immune to her.
I did one based on Jean Gray using the Abomination Dicipline to replicate Dark Phoenix building on mind thrust.
Never got to play it but it should work in theory.
In truth though its much easier to do control with a psychic than damage, abusing spells like Etheric Shard.
We have a psychic in the group I DM for.
The first two books of the AP we are doing had maybe a half-dozen encounters combined that were not completely immune to her.
That's just poor spell selection. Always take Ear-Piercing Scream, sonic damage and a daze effect that isn't mind affecting or capped by HD.
I did one based on Jean Gray using the Abomination Dicipline to replicate Dark Phoenix building on mind thrust.
Never got to play it but it should work in theory.
In truth though its much easier to do control with a psychic than damage, abusing spells like Etheric Shard.
We have a psychic in the group I DM for.
The first two books of the AP we are doing had maybe a half-dozen encounters combined that were not completely immune to her.
So she picked only Mind affecting spells in a heavily mindless campaign? Otherwise I see no way this could be unless she just didn't invest in intelligence.
Either way not a fault of the class.| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I've been playing this alias, a Lore psychic, in Carrion Crown. (I did use the Logical Spell - Remove Fear trick that was mentioned earlier in a recent encounter.) While there are occasional hiccups, I've had a lot of success not just as a mental damage-dealer, but also doing divinations and especially using skill unlocks - for instance, I've used phrenology to identify corpses from their heads, and aura reading to get bonuses in a legal trial where magic wasn't allowed.
Just wanted to say that your character sheet is beautiful.
Did you do everything by hand? What is your template?
It is quite literally just the standard Hero Lab export to PDF.