My initial impressions of the Psychic after playing a ton of psychic casters in 1e.


Psychic Class


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Hello! So these are my initial impressions of the Psychic:

1. I totally agree with the concept of choosing your ability score depending on the source of your power. I would add WIS and tie it to intuition just like INT is for calculation and CHA is for emotion, because in PF1 many psychics were fueled by reincarnation, enlightenment, or primitive instincts, and those are concepts usually related to Wisdom.

2. Having 2 slots per level seems strange to me. I know it's supposed to be balanced out by the number of times you'll be using cantrips each day, but I don't know if that's enough to justify the nerf in options per day, especially because I don't want another Warlock spamming the same spell over and over again. I'll have to playtest to see, tho.

3. Amps to me are a nice translation from 1st Edition Phrenic Amplifications. However, limiting them to your psi cantrips (which are just a few) feels a little too restrictive to me. Also, they feel a bit redundant with metamagics, except more powerful and less versatile. It's kinda parasitic.

4. Mage Hand needs an Amp Heightened effect. If I'm going to play a Psychic specialized in telekinesis, I want to be able to lift big boulders and stop a truck by 20th level.

5. To me, Infinite Eye seems a bit all over the place in terms of thematic. You can see things from multiple angles, and also see the future, and also detect magic, and sense weaknesses... I understand the "sixth sense" element, but this Conscious Mind seems more tied to an entire magical school (divination) rather than a specific topic.

6. Unleash Psyche seems like an amazing concept to explore with this class, as it allows you to unlock the deeper layers of your mind. However, I'd like to be able to choose your Psyche at 1st level or tie it to your Consciousness, because having Focused Intent tied to your personality by default feels like the entire class has a proclivity to aggression. However, I wouldn't miss the Psyches if they came in form of feats instead of a class feature. That way I'd invest power budget on having more versatility.

7. So many good feats OMG. Unleash Dark Persona, Mantra of Discipline, Shatter Space, Become Thought, and so many others look incredibly cool. However, I'm kinda worried about Mesmerizing Gaze. Seems to me like the Psychic is going to absorb the entire 1e Mesmerist class, and having to wait until 8th level to access their signature ability (Hypnotic Stare) doesn't feel right to me. Plus, it's gonna take a ton of unique material (tricks, stares, touch treatment...) to justify the deletion of the whole class.

8. I think the class is lacking a subclass tied to their Imagination. Someone who creates thoughtform creatures, mindscapes, figments, hallucinations, etc.

9. Names like Psychic/Psyche, Unconscious Mind/Conscious Mind sound a bit too similar. I'd prefer more unique names so they're easier to differentiate.

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