I was going through my old posts here and saw a post of a Psychic Warrior that I had made with the help of the forums. It was posted for the longest time on pathfinderdb.com which seems to have disappeared. After much perusal through my PCs, I found a copy of the class its final incarnation. This was written back in 2011, so before quite a few of the current books came out...
I think it is far better than the seemingly more common version of the d20pfsrd site (thematically anyhows).
I'll try updating it to include the newer options, such as favoured class for races, etc... For now going to re-build my old character with the Sylph race and see what it looks like. ;)
Your version is certainly less focused (thematically) than the original psychic warrior. This class grants a stealth bonus, charm immunity, spell resistance, a psi crystal, and other features that don't scream gish to me. That is not a bad thing per se - in fact, 'hybrid' classes (like the bard, alchemist, inquisitor or magus) should offer players a lot of options to create very different builds (I tried something similar with my psychomancer). Still, I am not convinced that the thematic focus is strong enough here - to me, it appears to be more a general psionic class, than a psychic warrior. Also, it lacks in abilities that would allow it to fill the role of a martial. Did you create some builds and compare them to similar hybrid classes?
I have to compliment you on your bold decision to replace the disciplines from the original class with paths. Still, I believe that these features are too generic for a class that is supposed to be a psychic warrior.
I would suggest either to give this class a stronger focus on martial abilities or to call it a psychic and add more options that allow for different builds.
I have to agree. I looked at this yesterday with the intent of giving you my thoughts. However, I did not because I was confused about that I was reading. Nothing says "warrior" to me, except for Weapon Focus and Psychic Combo. Neither is a strong indicator of being a warrior class.
Abilities
This little blurb should instead go with the psionic powers. Placed where it is - before everything else - it is of no use.
Skills
For a 4 + Int class that has a focus on Intelligence, the skill list is too small. Even when you include the path skills. My suggestion is that you take ALL of the path skills and put them here. This class may not be the warrior that you advertise, but he might turn into the skill monkey.
Proficiencies
A medium BAB class with no obvious combat class features should probably not have all martial weapons. Perhaps simple weapons plus some other, similar to the rogue and bard.
Discipline Manifestation
These first level abilities begin between a cantrip and a 1st level spell. They scale up with level and he gets additional powers. Any caster begins with a variety of cantrips, plus a limited number of spells that are more powerful. I guess I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm also not sure if it required to focus one type or if I may choose any. This section is pretty vague.
Mental Stealth
This is the ability that really made me rethink whether or not this is a psychic warrior. I started thinking pyschic rogue instead. For such an generalized class, this ability is strangely specific and feels out of place.
Psi-Crystal
Does this do anything except grant two feat? I get it that this crystal is like his familiar. Alertness at 1st level is fine I guess, but rather than giving two feats, why not grant additional ones as you gain levels. If this psi-crystal is so important, it should grow with the character. For example, gaining a feat at levels 1, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 might work. Alternately, you could grant something more interesting than feats.
Weapon Focus
It just feels out of place. And at 9th level, allowing a character to choose GWF is not as juicy as just giving it to him.
Psychic Combo
You'll need to to reorganize your thoughts on this one. Its scattered and hard to understand also. Also, what happens if I don't have two disciplines in the same path until level 7? And I just hosed? The bonuses here aren't that great. If I only take clarsentient power, whose bonus maxes out at +3, I will still never possess the equivalent of a full-BAB. And actual full-BAB classes have a way to get bonuses above and beyond that.
This is a good start. But keep on going.
Thanks both of you for your comments. I get a bit confused due to the fact that when I created this class (just about the time that the 1st supplement, Advanced Players Guide, had come out) it was the only Psychic Warrior class, and there weren't nearly as many classes to compare against. I do see that perhaps a less martial sounding name may be a good idea at this point. :P
The original intent of the class was a hope that any psychic classes made by Paizo would not use spells as a form of powers. So, it was written with the idea that (Su) features could replace "spell casting" of a psychic class. For awhile he had a full BAB, but we had to reduce it because the (Su) abilities were so re-usable that it felt nearly as strong as a Sorcerer or Wizard. And of course, the further we got from the full BAB (for balance reasons) the less like a Warrior it felt.
That being said...
Have moved the "blurb" from Abilities to a place just before the Disciple Paths start.
I agree about the skills, and have some reservations about keeping it at +4 rather than +2. In play tests, I had far more skills than other players, which didn't feel right, and the Knowledge (Psionic) was, of course, never really used so I should drop that I suppose.
Will clarify the text on Disciplines tonight. You are in no way limited to a single discipline path You can take the 1st discipline of one, then the 1st discipline of another rather than continue on the same discipline path.
The Mental Stealth "feels" weird to me now (have been playing a Wizard for so long now). I remember being grateful for it, but am unsure if it's a good thematic power of if I should drop it, or replace it. :/
The Psi-Crystal has a lot of options... I played from 1st level till 8th over a period of about a year, and I recall that my crystal ended with me basically having Detect Magic via his Telepathy, and he was the perfect "watch" since he didn't sleep, and had "Speech", "dark vision", and 120' Sense. Also, his read Languages was nice... The Psi Crystal is a good thing, I remember that well. :P
Weapon Focus: When creating the class, I saw a Monk with more Ki (Ki was still not nearly what it is today with the Qinqong archetype). He really was suppose to have a strong focus on weapons, just not as great as the Monk due to the more powerful "Ki"/Psychic Disciplines. Weapon Focus represented his using Katas and Meditation through martial arts to focus his mental powers... I understand that it may feel out of place, but it is too thematic to just toss, for me anyhow.
As for GWF: Sadly, you got the wrong copy of the class... we had, in-game, changed it to just being granted and I didn't think to edit it in because we only played to 8th level. he has it, but only with his attuned weapon.
Psychic Combo worked well for me, but I played a Telekinetic almost exclusively. I was getting +11 damage (+5 from 5 TK Disciplines, +4 from Focused, +2 from Str 15). We had a clairsentient in the group that enjoyed his +4 to hit (+3 from Combo, +1 from Weapon Focus). However, I am completely open to changes... we never had anyone play the Telepath Path. We finally got our copy of the Advanced Race Guide and i went crazy for the Sylph Wizard. :P
Psychic Combo
The bonuses here aren't that great. If I only take clarsentient power, whose bonus maxes out at +3, I will still never possess the equivalent of a full-BAB. And actual full-BAB classes have a way to get bonuses above and beyond that.
I need help on this one... am trying to make it more warrior-like (removed the stealth, dropped skills by 2, but not sure how to improve the Psychic Combo. Initial thought is a +5 max for Clairsentience's attack bonus, which allows up-to a full BAB, TK would obviously stick with strength, though a +5 to BAB is a lot more interesting than +5 to damage, no? The Telepathy thing though has me locked up... nobody ever played one in our game, and I don't "feel" the CMB bonus...
That, and the fact that you're right, zero bonus till 7th level if you're a generalist type...