Abilities do not have to be magical to be on par with spells or magical abilities. Being magical is one way to limit the power of psionic abilities, but not all psionic abilities need to be magical to be powerful. Resource consumption, frequency, accessibility, and level requirements are other ways to balance them.
All of those vectors do matter, but you can't simply ignore interactivity and interoperability with the rest of the system. I mean, you can, but then your design is going to have pretty glaring flaws.
For example, a big part of Vecna the Archlich's power comes from his multiple abilities to disrupt or protect himself from spellcasters. If instead you come after him without spellcasters, you won't be weak to those abilities, but you'll have many other weaknesses instead. All of that is intentional by the designers. But if instead you come along and invent something that's functionally spellcasting but gets to ignore the limitations that spells have, then that throws the balance for such monsters out the window. And it's not just the monsters, it permeates the system - feats, class abilities, items etc.
Not all spells are equally powerful either, and some spells can be freely cast as rituals to buff them up. And some magical abilities are so mundane that they do not require spellcasting nor consuming spell slots at all (Aberrant Mind's telepathy is a bit weaker than a monster's telepathy, and while it costs a bonus action, it is practically free to use).
I want psionics (and other systems like Invocations, Metamagic, Maneuvers, Fighting Styles, Channel Divinity, etc.) to be expanded and be more powerful. They do not have to have the same depth and max power as spell casting, but a quarter of the depth with max power around 8th level spells is pretty reasonable in my opinion.
Sure, spells aren't equal, but they do roughly fall into scaling bands by spell level. Sleep for example is extremely powerful at levels 1-3 before falling off - so if you have a psionic power that does the same thing at those levels, it needs the same or similar weaknesses too. And when your starting point is removing several of those weaknesses and replacing them with nothing, you're already starting from a backwards position. Note too that those problems show up long before 15th level (when your 8ths cap would come into play.)
But are those methods really realistic though? Even with a combination of them, I do not think it is realistic to expect a human to develop their senses to the point of blindsight as it is described in the game.
You are speaking of realism in a setting where the average person can carry 150 lbs indefinitely and consumes a single pound of food per day while going off to fight a reptile with similar size and mass to a greyhound bus that is nevertheless able to achieve flight and project fire, lightning, poisonous mist, acid or sub zero temperatures.
Plus, despite the fact that a PC of sufficient level and able to cast the spell could shapechange into a CR 18 to 20 Dragon, Dragons are not balanced with that in mind. They simply are not. And therefore, Shapechange is not balanced to that level of analysis, either.
Honestly, tier 3 and 4 balance is a trainwreck already, but it won't help anything to add a new category of broken ability that isn't affected by anti-magic effects, as that's one of the few things keeping it remotely non-broken (arguably a wizard shapeshifted into a dragon arguably can't use a breath weapon into a AMF even though an actual dragon could, because it's a magical dragon in that case. Same for summons).
If a DM's adventure is really make or break on whether the breath weapon of a caster shapeshifted into dragon form is magical or not, I put that on the DM not the rules.
Plus, despite the fact that a PC of sufficient level and able to cast the spell could shapechange into a CR 18 to 20 Dragon, Dragons are not balanced with that in mind. They simply are not. And therefore, Shapechange is not balanced to that level of analysis, either.
Honestly, tier 3 and 4 balance is a trainwreck already, but it won't help anything to add a new category of broken ability that isn't affected by anti-magic effects, as that's one of the few things keeping it remotely non-broken (arguably a wizard shapeshifted into a dragon arguably can't use a breath weapon into a AMF even though an actual dragon could, because it's a magical dragon in that case. Same for summons).
If a DM's adventure is really make or break on whether the breath weapon of a caster shapeshifted into dragon form is magical or not, I put that on the DM not the rules.
5e gets reaaaal silly once you get past like, level 12 and I can't really hold it against a GM if the players are able to weaponize their sprawling arsenal of spells in new and derpy way's they couldn't have expected.
Abilities do not have to be magical to be on par with spells or magical abilities. Being magical is one way to limit the power of psionic abilities, but not all psionic abilities need to be magical to be powerful. Resource consumption, frequency, accessibility, and level requirements are other ways to balance them.
All of those vectors do matter, but you can't simply ignore interactivity and interoperability with the rest of the system. I mean, you can, but then your design is going to have pretty glaring flaws.
For example, a big part of Vecna the Archlich's power comes from his multiple abilities to disrupt or protect himself from spellcasters. If instead you come after him without spellcasters, you won't be weak to those abilities, but you'll have many other weaknesses instead. All of that is intentional by the designers. But if instead you come along and invent something that's functionally spellcasting but gets to ignore the limitations that spells have, then that throws the balance for such monsters out the window. And it's not just the monsters, it permeates the system - feats, class abilities, items etc.
Not every ability in the system needs complete interactivity and interoperability with the rest of the system or other systems. Hexblade's Eldritch Smite consumes a spell slot, but it is not a spell, so it is a bit harder to counter. Divine Intervention does not interact with the spell system if the GM does not want it to. Draconic sorcerers got Dragon Wings. Fighter's Blind Fighting is always on. Partial interactivity and interoperability is totally fine. Being a spell or magical is not the only way something can be balanced.
Not all spells are equally powerful either, and some spells can be freely cast as rituals to buff them up. And some magical abilities are so mundane that they do not require spellcasting nor consuming spell slots at all (Aberrant Mind's telepathy is a bit weaker than a monster's telepathy, and while it costs a bonus action, it is practically free to use).
I want psionics (and other systems like Invocations, Metamagic, Maneuvers, Fighting Styles, Channel Divinity, etc.) to be expanded and be more powerful. They do not have to have the same depth and max power as spell casting, but a quarter of the depth with max power around 8th level spells is pretty reasonable in my opinion.
Sure, spells aren't equal, but they do roughly fall into scaling bands by spell level. Sleep for example is extremely powerful at levels 1-3 before falling off - so if you have a psionic power that does the same thing at those levels, it needs the same or similar weaknesses too. And when your starting point is removing several of those weaknesses and replacing them with nothing, you're already starting from a backwards position. Note too that those problems show up long before 15th level (when your 8ths cap would come into play.)
I literally just gave some examples of ways to balance psionic abilities, like resource consumption or frequency. Psionics is no different from any other ability system. How am I starting from a backwards position? I want psionics to be expanded and be given more power, at least have similar depth to Invocations, Ki, Maneuvers, Fighting Styles, etc., and I want all those systems be more powerful to close the gap they have with the spell system.
But are those methods really realistic though? Even with a combination of them, I do not think it is realistic to expect a human to develop their senses to the point of blindsight as it is described in the game.
You are speaking of realism in a setting where the average person can carry 150 lbs indefinitely and consumes a single pound of food per day while going off to fight a reptile with similar size and mass to a greyhound bus that is nevertheless able to achieve flight and project fire, lightning, poisonous mist, acid or sub zero temperatures.
And my point by the same token is that not all magic is magical. Just as we do not apply realism from our perspective to the D&D world, we do not apply what is magical from our prespective to the D&D world.
Psionics is obviosly magical to us in the real world, but psionics does not have be magical from D&D's perspective, and it already is not magical by default. Divine Intervention is not magical by default either, and no one bats an eye.
Not every ability in the system needs complete interactivity and interoperability with the rest of the system or other systems. Hexblade's Eldritch Smite consumes a spell slot, but it is not a spell, so it is a bit harder to counter. Divine Intervention does not interact with the spell system if the GM does not want it to. Draconic sorcerers got Dragon Wings. Fighter's Blind Fighting is always on. Partial interactivity and interoperability is totally fine. Being a spell or magical is not the only way something can be balanced.
None of your examples except DI have sufficient power for transparency to matter, and even that one is (a) recommended to be a spell, and (b) even if it isn't, it's still balanced by needing 7 long rests between successful uses. Somehow, I don't think you'd want that drawback for your psionics system.
I literally just gave some examples of ways to balance psionic abilities, like resource consumption or frequency. Psionics is no different from any other ability system. How am I starting from a backwards position? I want psionics to be expanded and be given more power, at least have similar depth to Invocations, Ki, Maneuvers, Fighting Styles, etc., and I want all those systems be more powerful to close the gap they have with the spell system.
Invocations*, Ki powers*, Maneuvers, and Fighting Styles don't need transparency because they don't have the power of spells.
If you're talking about bringing them up to the level of spellcasting, you'll need to overhaul the entire game, so good luck with that.
*The invocations and ki powers that do, generally involve duplicating spells themselves.
Psionics is obviosly magical to us in the real world, but psionics does not have be magical from D&D's perspective, and it already is not magical by default. Divine Intervention is not magical by default either, and no one bats an eye.
If your psionics system needed 7 long rests between each use I'm pretty sure you'd bat an eye at that.
Plus, despite the fact that a PC of sufficient level and able to cast the spell could shapechange into a CR 18 to 20 Dragon, Dragons are not balanced with that in mind. They simply are not. And therefore, Shapechange is not balanced to that level of analysis, either.
Honestly, tier 3 and 4 balance is a trainwreck already, but it won't help anything to add a new category of broken ability that isn't affected by anti-magic effects, as that's one of the few things keeping it remotely non-broken (arguably a wizard shapeshifted into a dragon arguably can't use a breath weapon into a AMF even though an actual dragon could, because it's a magical dragon in that case. Same for summons).
If a DM's adventure is really make or break on whether the breath weapon of a caster shapeshifted into dragon form is magical or not, I put that on the DM not the rules.
5e gets reaaaal silly once you get past like, level 12 and I can't really hold it against a GM if the players are able to weaponize their sprawling arsenal of spells in new and derpy way's they couldn't have expected.
DMs have literally infinite power within their worlds. It is never a contest player vs DM and the DM is only constrained by the rules to the extent of giving the players a sufficient level of predictable certainty that they retain agency.
This traditionally means not tossing that great power around casually, as they are interacting more and more often with the true greater powers of the world, with correspondingly increased stakes.
This shift is the main reason a lot of campaigns do simply end, either by way of the DM not understanding how to do that well or the players deciding on their own to act like they already rule the world and the DM simply letting them.
And my point by the same token is that not all magic is magical. Just as we do not apply realism from our perspective to the D&D world, we do not apply what is magical from our prespective to the D&D world.
Psionics is obviosly magical to us in the real world, but psionics does not have be magical from D&D's perspective, and it already is not magical by default. Divine Intervention is not magical by default either, and no one bats an eye.
You have misinterpreted my point, either because you legitimately missed the point that I was making earlier on the subject of psionics or because you wanted to move it into terms you were more comfortable with so allow me to clarify this matter:
As I am not playing mage: the ascension, I do not care how something is percieved by the people of the local environment. If they see a wizard shoot a fireball it does not matter if they think this is a man twisting the forces of the universe, a psychic manifestation of his will, the chemical reaction between bat guano and sulfur in orb format, a naturally occurring phenomenon fully divorced from the man in the floppy hat or an optical illusion. What I care about in this matter is what are the actual gameplay mechanics at work here and do they conform to the system that I have been working with for the past ten years.
This is why I insist that psionics has to conform to the mechanical systems of magic because if you don't have that then it creates a gaping hole in the mechanics of a ten years of material.
Also having double checked on divine intervention it would in point of fact be blocked by an antimagic field according to the strictest interpretation of the rules due to the fact that you are typically getting them to cast a spell.
5e gets reaaaal silly once you get past like, level 12 and I can't really hold it against a GM if the players are able to weaponize their sprawling arsenal of spells in new and derpy way's they couldn't have expected.
DMs have literally infinite power within their worlds. It is never a contest player vs DM and the DM is only constrained by the rules to the extent of giving the players a sufficient level of predictable certainty that they retain agency.
This traditionally means not tossing that great power around casually, as they are interacting more and more often with the true greater powers of the world, with correspondingly increased stakes.
This shift is the main reason a lot of campaigns do simply end, either by way of the DM not understanding how to do that well or the players deciding on their own to act like they already rule the world and the DM simply letting them.
This would be why most campaigns terminate before they get into the upper echelons of levels: past a certain point the game becomes incredibly difficult for a GM to parse the possibilities of player actions when they could concievably have dozens of different spells which can interact with each other for new and incredibly derpy effects.
So again: I can not blame a GM for not foreseeing players engaging in creative use of their abilities and thereby upending a campaign that has gone past level 12.
None of your examples except DI have sufficient power for transparency to matter, and even that one is (a) recommended to be a spell, and (b) even if it isn't, it's still balanced by needing 7 long rests between successful uses. Somehow, I don't think you'd want that drawback for your psionics system.
If that was all they had, sure, but keep in mind that is an ability that can do literally whatever the DM wants it to do. Even limiting it to the example of 'Any clerical spell or any domain spell,' that can be a cost-free true resurrection.... at level 10. And the 7 days is only if the DM grants the intervention. If the DM does not, that timer doesn't even start yet.
AND it is just one clerical ability.
But let's go smaller scale. Do you agree that the ability to stab someone with a pointy stick is non-magical? Even when it can do more damage than a cantrip? This "The power of spells" phrase is not the absolute you seem to think it is.
This is why I insist that psionics has to conform to the mechanical systems of magic because if you don't have that then it creates a gaping hole in the mechanics of a ten years of material.
Also having double checked on divine intervention it would in point of fact be blocked by an antimagic field according to the strictest interpretation of the rules due to the fact that you are typically getting them to cast a spell.
This would be why most campaigns terminate before they get into the upper echelons of levels: past a certain point the game becomes incredibly difficult for a GM to parse the possibilities of player actions when they could concievably have dozens of different spells which can interact with each other for new and incredibly derpy effects.
So again: I can not blame a GM for not foreseeing players engaging in creative use of their abilities and thereby upending a campaign that has gone past level 12.
Pretty certain that the personal comfort zone of any one player has no bearing on whether something is or is not a viable new rule for any given game they might play.
And "typically" only typically triggers rules.
There are also people who run higher level campaigns and there are people who play in them. There are people who feel that checkers is too simple for them and play chess instead. There are people who feel chess is too mechanical and play poker, instead and yet others who like the problem solving of escape rooms. D&D incorporates bits of all these (and a few other) types of games and the exact blend will vary between tables.
It is fair game to say "Psionics are not my thing." It is another to say "Psionics are not your thing."
If that was all they had, sure, but keep in mind that is an ability that can do literally whatever the DM wants it to do. Even limiting it to the example of 'Any clerical spell or any domain spell,' that can be a cost-free true resurrection.... at level 10. And the 7 days is only if the DM grants the intervention. If the DM does not, that timer doesn't even start yet.
AND it is just one clerical ability.
But let's go smaller scale. Do you agree that the ability to stab someone with a pointy stick is non-magical? Even when it can do more damage than a cantrip? This "The power of spells" phrase is not the absolute you seem to think it is.
A physical attack doing more damage than a specific cantrip is not the same level of power as simply... being able to choose from a bunch of cantrips from a list. And certainly not spells. One requires spellcasting, one doesn't. How you two can see these as equivalent is genuinely baffling to me.
And regarding DI - I'm completely fine with that breaking the rules and not being counterable/AMF/dispellable/etc, even if it IS duplicating a spell. You're literally asking a god or other divine entity to act on your behalf once every 7 days; gods breaking the rules on such a low frequency is fine. But you can't base on entire alternate casting system on that one exception; they are so divergent as to be on different continents, design-wise.
Pretty certain that the personal comfort zone of any one player has no bearing on whether something is or is not a viable new rule for any given game they might play.
And "typically" only typically triggers rules.
There are also people who run higher level campaigns and there are people who play in them. There are people who feel that checkers is too simple for them and play chess instead. There are people who feel chess is too mechanical and play poker, instead and yet others who like the problem solving of escape rooms. D&D incorporates bits of all these (and a few other) types of games and the exact blend will vary between tables.
It is fair game to say "Psionics are not my thing." It is another to say "Psionics are not your thing."
1) I have no problem with psionics being your thing and not my thing. You are allowed to want all kinds of things in your game that are not my thing; that is precisely what houserules and homebrew are for. But "being my thing" and "being a good design decision for the printed game" are wholly different asks.
2) I find the "well, some people find chess too complicated!" arguments to be specious. Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition has, finally, managed to hit an ideal sweet spot between accessibility for newcomers and depth for TTRPG veterans; I'm not pretending it's a perfect game by any means, but it's hit that balance point more successfully than any edition before. If your goal is to assert that they should divert from that sweet spot by throwing in an entirely new, opaque casting system, the burden of proof is very much on you to demonstrate that you're not dumping a metaphorical dollop of mayonnaise into their chocolate fondue.
Not every ability in the system needs complete interactivity and interoperability with the rest of the system or other systems. Hexblade's Eldritch Smite consumes a spell slot, but it is not a spell, so it is a bit harder to counter. Divine Intervention does not interact with the spell system if the GM does not want it to. Draconic sorcerers got Dragon Wings. Fighter's Blind Fighting is always on. Partial interactivity and interoperability is totally fine. Being a spell or magical is not the only way something can be balanced.
None of your examples except DI have sufficient power for transparency to matter, and even that one is (a) recommended to be a spell, and (b) even if it isn't, it's still balanced by needing 7 long rests between successful uses. Somehow, I don't think you'd want that drawback for your psionics system.
And that is fine? What is wrong with having some abilities locked behind frequency? If psionics has an ability as powerful as Divine Intervention, waiting for a week to recharge is pretty generous. Psionics as system also does not have to strictly use frequency either. Spell casting uses resource consumption, level requirements, and to a lesser extent frequency (to recharge spell slots), with some spells having various other drawbacks or limitations. Invocations uses a variety of them too. Ki, Metamagic, and Maneuvers uses level requirements, a little bit of resource consumption, and frequency to recharge those resources. Fighting Styles do not have much in the way of drawbacks or limitations, so they are pretty weak in general, but Blind Fighting is quite a bit stronger than others in my opinion.
I literally just gave some examples of ways to balance psionic abilities, like resource consumption or frequency. Psionics is no different from any other ability system. How am I starting from a backwards position? I want psionics to be expanded and be given more power, at least have similar depth to Invocations, Ki, Maneuvers, Fighting Styles, etc., and I want all those systems be more powerful to close the gap they have with the spell system.
Invocations*, Ki powers*, Maneuvers, and Fighting Styles don't need transparency because they don't have the power of spells.
If you're talking about bringing them up to the level of spellcasting, you'll need to overhaul the entire game, so good luck with that.
*The invocations and ki powers that do, generally involve duplicating spells themselves.
For Invocations, Devil Sight replicates the Dark Vision spell, but is far more powerful. Aspect of the Moon is really strong too, since that frees up sleep time to do light activity, and you can combo it with the Alert feat, so the party cannot be surprised when resting.
Ki can make you immune to disease and poison and you are proficient in all saving throws. They are pretty powerful in my opinion, and they are only locked behind a level requirement.
Maneuvers and Fighting Styles are significantly weaker than spells. It would be nice if some of their abilities can be stronger.
Psionics is obviosly magical to us in the real world, but psionics does not have be magical from D&D's perspective, and it already is not magical by default. Divine Intervention is not magical by default either, and no one bats an eye.
If your psionics system needed 7 long rests between each use I'm pretty sure you'd bat an eye at that.
If a psionics ability is similar in power and scope as Divine Intervention, 7 day wait along with a high level requirement is a pretty good deal, especially since you can cast it for free. I do not think every psionics ability needs to be that powerful, and I do not think every the ability needs to be locked behind only frequency limitations either. A variety of powers, a variety in levels of power, and a variety of different limitations would be nice. If psionics and every other system in D&D has a fraction of the depth of spell casting and a level of power approaching spell casting, I think that would satisfy a lot of different people. Martials would be more interesting to play, and non-wizard spell casters would not just feel like weaker wizards.
This is why I insist that psionics has to conform to the mechanical systems of magic because if you don't have that then it creates a gaping hole in the mechanics of a ten years of material.
Also having double checked on divine intervention it would in point of fact be blocked by an antimagic field according to the strictest interpretation of the rules due to the fact that you are typically getting them to cast a spell.
And why does psionics have to conform to spell casting and magic rules rather than be closer to Ki or Invocations or Maneuvers? I do not think it has to confirm to any existing system either, and it can be its own unique thing. Instead of consuming slots, points, or dice, it can be like Fighting Styles where it is always on; and instead of consuming dice as you use abilities, you reduce the dice size instead, and particularly powerful abilities can require more than one dice size reduction as a cost. Being based on a deck of cards is also an option like the Deck of Many Things, although that might be a bit too clunky and unwieldy for players compared to GMs. For simplicity, I would just go with the Ki, Maneuvers, and Metamagic system, but it does not have to. To make things even more simple, they can even have psionic abilities cost HP instead so there is one less resource to track.
Divine Intervention is not automatically blocked by antimagic field. A cleric can obviously ask their diety to cast Fireball for them, but it generally makes more sense for clerics to ask their diety to help them defeat an enemy, and let the GM choos a reasonably powerful intervention to help accomplish that request. And if Antimagic Field is present, I think it would be a dick move if the GM casts a spell on purpose to get it cancelled, rather than trying to help the cleric out with a method that does not get denied by the field, like making the enemy trip and lose their concentration or something. Outright killing the enemy is also an option, but only the most dire of situations would warrant that, like a high level boss fight where Divine Intervention is the last resort and the cleric gets to enjoy the spot light and saves the day.
5e gets reaaaal silly once you get past like, level 12 and I can't really hold it against a GM if the players are able to weaponize their sprawling arsenal of spells in new and derpy way's they couldn't have expected.
DMs have literally infinite power within their worlds. It is never a contest player vs DM and the DM is only constrained by the rules to the extent of giving the players a sufficient level of predictable certainty that they retain agency.
This traditionally means not tossing that great power around casually, as they are interacting more and more often with the true greater powers of the world, with correspondingly increased stakes.
This shift is the main reason a lot of campaigns do simply end, either by way of the DM not understanding how to do that well or the players deciding on their own to act like they already rule the world and the DM simply letting them.
This would be why most campaigns terminate before they get into the upper echelons of levels: past a certain point the game becomes incredibly difficult for a GM to parse the possibilities of player actions when they could concievably have dozens of different spells which can interact with each other for new and incredibly derpy effects.
So again: I can not blame a GM for not foreseeing players engaging in creative use of their abilities and thereby upending a campaign that has gone past level 12.
There is a lack of high level campaigns, and Wizards has not exactly done a good job of dispelling the myth that running high level campaigns is super difficult. I mean, the TTRPG community as a whole has not done a good job transitioning players to GMs, and people think being a GM is a pain in the ass, stressful, and hard, when in reality it is not even that bad.
If you a paid GM or are GMing for strangers, sure that can be difficult, but I assume most GMs play with their friends and family, and if you are running a homebrew campaign, there is honestly not that much work that needs to be done. You can put in a lot of effort like world building and fleshing out NPCs, but it is not necessary. GMs who want to put in the work can, but it is not needed. Pulling stuff out of your butt and doing improv is just as valid, and it is way, way, way easier, since there is barely any prep work that needs to be done.
And that is fine? What is wrong with having some abilities locked behind frequency? If psionics has an ability as powerful as Divine Intervention, waiting for a week to recharge is pretty generous. Psionics as system also does not have to strictly use frequency either. Spell casting uses resource consumption, level requirements, and to a lesser extent frequency (to recharge spell slots), with some spells having various other drawbacks or limitations.
If you're okay with 7-day recharge for psionics and that works for you, great. I'm not going to tell you what you should like.
But you viewing frequency as a "lesser extent" is a fundamental problem I have with your mindset regarding the printed game's design. It's not lesser, at all - the rest-basis for spell slot recovery is an absolute cornerstone of the system and the power level that spells are allowed to have. Even the Warlock, which is short-rest-based, suddenly becomes long-rest-based when you get above 5th-level spells. That's completely intentional. And if you still don't view it that way, we probably have too big an impasse on the edition's underlying design for further debate to be productive.
If that was all they had, sure, but keep in mind that is an ability that can do literally whatever the DM wants it to do. Even limiting it to the example of 'Any clerical spell or any domain spell,' that can be a cost-free true resurrection.... at level 10. And the 7 days is only if the DM grants the intervention. If the DM does not, that timer doesn't even start yet.
AND it is just one clerical ability.
But let's go smaller scale. Do you agree that the ability to stab someone with a pointy stick is non-magical? Even when it can do more damage than a cantrip? This "The power of spells" phrase is not the absolute you seem to think it is.
A physical attack doing more damage than a specific cantrip is not the same level of power as simply... being able to choose from a bunch of cantrips from a list. And certainly not spells. One requires spellcasting, one doesn't. How you two can see these as equivalent is genuinely baffling to me.
And regarding DI - I'm completely fine with that breaking the rules and not being counterable/AMF/dispellable/etc, even if it IS duplicating a spell. You're literally asking a god or other divine entity to act on your behalf once every 7 days; gods breaking the rules on such a low frequency is fine. But you can't base on entire alternate casting system on that one exception; they are so divergent as to be on different continents, design-wise.
Pretty certain that the personal comfort zone of any one player has no bearing on whether something is or is not a viable new rule for any given game they might play.
And "typically" only typically triggers rules.
There are also people who run higher level campaigns and there are people who play in them. There are people who feel that checkers is too simple for them and play chess instead. There are people who feel chess is too mechanical and play poker, instead and yet others who like the problem solving of escape rooms. D&D incorporates bits of all these (and a few other) types of games and the exact blend will vary between tables.
It is fair game to say "Psionics are not my thing." It is another to say "Psionics are not your thing."
1) I have no problem with psionics being your thing and not my thing. You are allowed to want all kinds of things in your game that are not my thing; that is precisely what houserules and homebrew are for. But "being my thing" and "being a good design decision for the printed game" are wholly different asks.
2) I find the "well, some people find chess too complicated!" arguments to be specious. Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition has, finally, managed to hit an ideal sweet spot between accessibility for newcomers and depth for TTRPG veterans; I'm not pretending it's a perfect game by any means, but it's hit that balance point more successfully than any edition before. If your goal is to assert that they should divert from that sweet spot by throwing in an entirely new, opaque casting system, the burden of proof is very much on you to demonstrate that you're not dumping a metaphorical dollop of mayonnaise into their chocolate fondue.
Please cite the martial class that is limited to literally one weapon. They do not exist. That using a weapon does not require spellcasting does not in and of itself guarantee that the caster will have a spell more effective for any given situation than the martial weapon.
No one is saying that Psionics should be as powerful as DI, either. These are false equivalences. DI was brought up to show a high end power that is not subject to AMF, etc. If a high end power can be, why can't lower powers? Again, not on a 1 for 1, the Psion gets everything any given caster class has but with fewer restrictions, but just, to some practical level, be able to do such things
I listed rather a lot more than just Chess and pretty much every TTRPG is more complex than chess. Those comments were in response to an Ashia post and not meant as directed at the personal preferences of them, you, or any given person. Not sure why there is any obligation on me to do any in depth sales pitch at all with respect to this, again, particularly since it is, at most, basic theorycrafting. You seem to be trying to insist that unless I (or any given proponent of anything) publish a full, ready to go proposal with all potential flaws worked out, that therefore the very idea itself should be rejected.
Again, these would be optional rules at a time when new books of optional rules no matter how good are a tough to impossible sell, so not sure how anything is being dumped into anyone's anything.
This is why I insist that psionics has to conform to the mechanical systems of magic because if you don't have that then it creates a gaping hole in the mechanics of a ten years of material.
Also having double checked on divine intervention it would in point of fact be blocked by an antimagic field according to the strictest interpretation of the rules due to the fact that you are typically getting them to cast a spell.
This would be why most campaigns terminate before they get into the upper echelons of levels: past a certain point the game becomes incredibly difficult for a GM to parse the possibilities of player actions when they could concievably have dozens of different spells which can interact with each other for new and incredibly derpy effects.
So again: I can not blame a GM for not foreseeing players engaging in creative use of their abilities and thereby upending a campaign that has gone past level 12.
Pretty certain that the personal comfort zone of any one player has no bearing on whether something is or is not a viable new rule for any given game they might play.
And "typically" only typically triggers rules.
There are also people who run higher level campaigns and there are people who play in them. There are people who feel that checkers is too simple for them and play chess instead. There are people who feel chess is too mechanical and play poker, instead and yet others who like the problem solving of escape rooms. D&D incorporates bits of all these (and a few other) types of games and the exact blend will vary between tables.
I'm sure there are people who play higher level games.
I'm also certain that the consistent comment about adventures taking place over level 15 are comparatively rare and due to how the rules simply don't handle a party that is around that level very well.
And why does psionics have to conform to spell casting and magic rules rather than be closer to Ki or Invocations or Maneuvers?
1. Ki does create magical effects.
2. Maneuvers are reflections of martial prowess and don't require defiance of the laws of physics.
Divine Intervention is not automatically blocked by antimagic field. A cleric can obviously ask their diety to cast Fireball for them, but it generally makes more sense for clerics to ask their diety to help them defeat an enemy, and let the GM choos a reasonably powerful intervention to help accomplish that request. And if Antimagic Field is present, I think it would be a dick move if the GM casts a spell on purpose to get it cancelled, rather than trying to help the cleric out with a method that does not get denied by the field, like making the enemy trip and lose their concentration or something. Outright killing the enemy is also an option, but only the most dire of situations would warrant that, like a high level boss fight where Divine Intervention is the last resort and the cleric gets to enjoy the spot light and saves the day.
I'm sorry that the stictest interpretation of the rules does not agree with what you'd like them to be.
Now, If I was in this situation as a GM and a player succeeded at the miserable chance to get this work? I would consider what they were hoping the god would do, consider the domain/responsibilities of the god and put through an effect based on a spell but since gods are operating at a much higher level of being then mortals their acts would supercede such a zone unless it had been created by another divine effect (IE bones of a fallen god from the time of troubles in FR or a preceding act of God).
This is why I insist that psionics has to conform to the mechanical systems of magic because if you don't have that then it creates a gaping hole in the mechanics of a ten years of material.
Also having double checked on divine intervention it would in point of fact be blocked by an antimagic field according to the strictest interpretation of the rules due to the fact that you are typically getting them to cast a spell.
This would be why most campaigns terminate before they get into the upper echelons of levels: past a certain point the game becomes incredibly difficult for a GM to parse the possibilities of player actions when they could concievably have dozens of different spells which can interact with each other for new and incredibly derpy effects.
So again: I can not blame a GM for not foreseeing players engaging in creative use of their abilities and thereby upending a campaign that has gone past level 12.
Pretty certain that the personal comfort zone of any one player has no bearing on whether something is or is not a viable new rule for any given game they might play.
And "typically" only typically triggers rules.
There are also people who run higher level campaigns and there are people who play in them. There are people who feel that checkers is too simple for them and play chess instead. There are people who feel chess is too mechanical and play poker, instead and yet others who like the problem solving of escape rooms. D&D incorporates bits of all these (and a few other) types of games and the exact blend will vary between tables.
I'm sure there are people who play higher level games.
I'm also certain that the consistent comment about adventures taking place over level 15 are comparatively rare and due to how the rules simply don't handle a party that is around that level very well.
And why does psionics have to conform to spell casting and magic rules rather than be closer to Ki or Invocations or Maneuvers?
1. Ki does create magical effects.
2. Maneuvers are reflections of martial prowess and don't require defiance of the laws of physics.
Divine Intervention is not automatically blocked by antimagic field. A cleric can obviously ask their diety to cast Fireball for them, but it generally makes more sense for clerics to ask their diety to help them defeat an enemy, and let the GM choos a reasonably powerful intervention to help accomplish that request. And if Antimagic Field is present, I think it would be a dick move if the GM casts a spell on purpose to get it cancelled, rather than trying to help the cleric out with a method that does not get denied by the field, like making the enemy trip and lose their concentration or something. Outright killing the enemy is also an option, but only the most dire of situations would warrant that, like a high level boss fight where Divine Intervention is the last resort and the cleric gets to enjoy the spot light and saves the day.
I'm sorry that the stictest interpretation of the rules does not agree with what you'd like them to be.
Now, If I was in this situation as a GM and a player succeeded at the miserable chance to get this work? I would consider what they were hoping the god would do, consider the domain/responsibilities of the god and put through an effect based on a spell but since gods are operating at a much higher level of being then mortals their acts would supercede such a zone unless it had been created by another divine effect (IE bones of a fallen god from the time of troubles in FR or a preceding act of God).
Regardless: it's still magic.
Ki can be used by some monks to create some magical effects. A fireball (magical) can light a non-magical fire, in addition to the fire damage it does directly. This does not mean that everything done with Ki is magical any more than it means that fireballs are somehow really non-magical.
Your strictest interpretation does not equal RAW simply by way of being your strictest interpretation. By your interpretation, an AMF causes real havok in the world since nature, itself may well exist or at least function due to the power of a Nature God or even an entire pantheon. Miserable chance, by the way? Base is 10%. Level or lower on percentile dice. 10% chance is pretty high, considering the power and the fact you can keep praying. Again, the 7 day timer only starts on a success.
Nowhere in the ability description does it say that it is magic.
I really can't follow all of this debate, but the focus on countering and dispelling for psionics is bizarre. It's as though you have this interesting idea for a concept (psionics) that has many possible interesting interpretations, but you choose to make the whole franchise hinge on knocking out one of the key pillars of balancing the game (cancellability). Why is this so central to that particular power fantasy?
Please cite the martial class that is limited to literally one weapon. They do not exist.
Weapons are all different aesthetically, but in the broad strokes they all do the same thing mechanically - you attack, hit, and roll a certain kind and quantity of dice for damage. Cantrips are far more varied - some do the above, some trigger saving throws, some improve your skills, some move or manipulate objects from afar, some create obstacles, some help you communicate etc. They're not at all comparable, and once you get into leveled spells the divergence only grows.
No one is saying that Psionics should be as powerful as DI, either. These are false equivalences. DI was brought up to show a high end power that is not subject to AMF, etc. If a high end power can be, why can't lower powers?
DI is allowed to break transparency while maintaining the broad power level of spellcasting because it's both balanced for that (i.e. it's more powerful than spellcasting, but with a heftier cost if it even works), and properly explained in the fiction, i.e. being a literal act of god(s). You have yet to propose either for psionics - just a vague "I guess we could adjust the resources and frequency somehow, probably?" - which incidentally is exactly what a sorcerer Subtly casting all their spells already does - and the fictional justification for psionics being opaque to magic is that they're not magic, which is circular reasoning.
You seem to be trying to insist that unless I (or any given proponent of anything) publish a full, ready to go proposal with all potential flaws worked out, that therefore the very idea itself should be rejected.
I certainly have no way of accepting something that even the people who want it seem incapable of properly describing. So if you're not willing to propose anything more detailed, I'm not sure what else you could possibly expect from me then - you'll just keep getting a "no, I don't think it's feasible." And if you'd rather not read any dissenting opinions, well, there are forum tools to help you.
I really can't follow all of this debate, but the focus on countering and dispelling for psionics is bizarre. It's as though you have this interesting idea for a concept (psionics) that has many possible interesting interpretations, but you choose to make the whole franchise hinge on knocking out one of the key pillars of balancing the game (cancellability). Why is this so central to that particular power fantasy?
I really don't know why they've chosen that hill to die on either.
(Also, don't forget detectability, resource transparency, feat transparency, item transparency, and species transparency.)
I really can't follow all of this debate, but the focus on countering and dispelling for psionics is bizarre. It's as though you have this interesting idea for a concept (psionics) that has many possible interesting interpretations, but you choose to make the whole franchise hinge on knocking out one of the key pillars of balancing the game (cancellability). Why is this so central to that particular power fantasy?
If I was to be a more bitter and cynical sort I'd think it was because the proponents of psionics want a treehouse magic system that is able to do end runs around the limitations that exist for wizards so that they can just be betterer.
More Likely, I think they don't understand that having (not)magic as a system just makes the game a more confusing and imbalanced mess.
All of those vectors do matter, but you can't simply ignore interactivity and interoperability with the rest of the system. I mean, you can, but then your design is going to have pretty glaring flaws.
For example, a big part of Vecna the Archlich's power comes from his multiple abilities to disrupt or protect himself from spellcasters. If instead you come after him without spellcasters, you won't be weak to those abilities, but you'll have many other weaknesses instead. All of that is intentional by the designers. But if instead you come along and invent something that's functionally spellcasting but gets to ignore the limitations that spells have, then that throws the balance for such monsters out the window. And it's not just the monsters, it permeates the system - feats, class abilities, items etc.
Sure, spells aren't equal, but they do roughly fall into scaling bands by spell level. Sleep for example is extremely powerful at levels 1-3 before falling off - so if you have a psionic power that does the same thing at those levels, it needs the same or similar weaknesses too. And when your starting point is removing several of those weaknesses and replacing them with nothing, you're already starting from a backwards position. Note too that those problems show up long before 15th level (when your 8ths cap would come into play.)
You are speaking of realism in a setting where the average person can carry 150 lbs indefinitely and consumes a single pound of food per day while going off to fight a reptile with similar size and mass to a greyhound bus that is nevertheless able to achieve flight and project fire, lightning, poisonous mist, acid or sub zero temperatures.
If a DM's adventure is really make or break on whether the breath weapon of a caster shapeshifted into dragon form is magical or not, I put that on the DM not the rules.
5e gets reaaaal silly once you get past like, level 12 and I can't really hold it against a GM if the players are able to weaponize their sprawling arsenal of spells in new and derpy way's they couldn't have expected.
Not every ability in the system needs complete interactivity and interoperability with the rest of the system or other systems. Hexblade's Eldritch Smite consumes a spell slot, but it is not a spell, so it is a bit harder to counter. Divine Intervention does not interact with the spell system if the GM does not want it to. Draconic sorcerers got Dragon Wings. Fighter's Blind Fighting is always on. Partial interactivity and interoperability is totally fine. Being a spell or magical is not the only way something can be balanced.
I literally just gave some examples of ways to balance psionic abilities, like resource consumption or frequency. Psionics is no different from any other ability system. How am I starting from a backwards position? I want psionics to be expanded and be given more power, at least have similar depth to Invocations, Ki, Maneuvers, Fighting Styles, etc., and I want all those systems be more powerful to close the gap they have with the spell system.
And my point by the same token is that not all magic is magical. Just as we do not apply realism from our perspective to the D&D world, we do not apply what is magical from our prespective to the D&D world.
Psionics is obviosly magical to us in the real world, but psionics does not have be magical from D&D's perspective, and it already is not magical by default. Divine Intervention is not magical by default either, and no one bats an eye.
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None of your examples except DI have sufficient power for transparency to matter, and even that one is (a) recommended to be a spell, and (b) even if it isn't, it's still balanced by needing 7 long rests between successful uses. Somehow, I don't think you'd want that drawback for your psionics system.
Invocations*, Ki powers*, Maneuvers, and Fighting Styles don't need transparency because they don't have the power of spells.
If you're talking about bringing them up to the level of spellcasting, you'll need to overhaul the entire game, so good luck with that.
*The invocations and ki powers that do, generally involve duplicating spells themselves.
If your psionics system needed 7 long rests between each use I'm pretty sure you'd bat an eye at that.
DMs have literally infinite power within their worlds. It is never a contest player vs DM and the DM is only constrained by the rules to the extent of giving the players a sufficient level of predictable certainty that they retain agency.
This traditionally means not tossing that great power around casually, as they are interacting more and more often with the true greater powers of the world, with correspondingly increased stakes.
This shift is the main reason a lot of campaigns do simply end, either by way of the DM not understanding how to do that well or the players deciding on their own to act like they already rule the world and the DM simply letting them.
You have misinterpreted my point, either because you legitimately missed the point that I was making earlier on the subject of psionics or because you wanted to move it into terms you were more comfortable with so allow me to clarify this matter:
As I am not playing mage: the ascension, I do not care how something is percieved by the people of the local environment. If they see a wizard shoot a fireball it does not matter if they think this is a man twisting the forces of the universe, a psychic manifestation of his will, the chemical reaction between bat guano and sulfur in orb format, a naturally occurring phenomenon fully divorced from the man in the floppy hat or an optical illusion. What I care about in this matter is what are the actual gameplay mechanics at work here and do they conform to the system that I have been working with for the past ten years.
This is why I insist that psionics has to conform to the mechanical systems of magic because if you don't have that then it creates a gaping hole in the mechanics of a ten years of material.
Also having double checked on divine intervention it would in point of fact be blocked by an antimagic field according to the strictest interpretation of the rules due to the fact that you are typically getting them to cast a spell.
This would be why most campaigns terminate before they get into the upper echelons of levels: past a certain point the game becomes incredibly difficult for a GM to parse the possibilities of player actions when they could concievably have dozens of different spells which can interact with each other for new and incredibly derpy effects.
So again: I can not blame a GM for not foreseeing players engaging in creative use of their abilities and thereby upending a campaign that has gone past level 12.
If that was all they had, sure, but keep in mind that is an ability that can do literally whatever the DM wants it to do. Even limiting it to the example of 'Any clerical spell or any domain spell,' that can be a cost-free true resurrection.... at level 10. And the 7 days is only if the DM grants the intervention. If the DM does not, that timer doesn't even start yet.
AND it is just one clerical ability.
But let's go smaller scale. Do you agree that the ability to stab someone with a pointy stick is non-magical? Even when it can do more damage than a cantrip? This "The power of spells" phrase is not the absolute you seem to think it is.
Pretty certain that the personal comfort zone of any one player has no bearing on whether something is or is not a viable new rule for any given game they might play.
And "typically" only typically triggers rules.
There are also people who run higher level campaigns and there are people who play in them. There are people who feel that checkers is too simple for them and play chess instead. There are people who feel chess is too mechanical and play poker, instead and yet others who like the problem solving of escape rooms. D&D incorporates bits of all these (and a few other) types of games and the exact blend will vary between tables.
It is fair game to say "Psionics are not my thing." It is another to say "Psionics are not your thing."
A physical attack doing more damage than a specific cantrip is not the same level of power as simply... being able to choose from a bunch of cantrips from a list. And certainly not spells. One requires spellcasting, one doesn't. How you two can see these as equivalent is genuinely baffling to me.
And regarding DI - I'm completely fine with that breaking the rules and not being counterable/AMF/dispellable/etc, even if it IS duplicating a spell. You're literally asking a god or other divine entity to act on your behalf once every 7 days; gods breaking the rules on such a low frequency is fine. But you can't base on entire alternate casting system on that one exception; they are so divergent as to be on different continents, design-wise.
1) I have no problem with psionics being your thing and not my thing. You are allowed to want all kinds of things in your game that are not my thing; that is precisely what houserules and homebrew are for. But "being my thing" and "being a good design decision for the printed game" are wholly different asks.
2) I find the "well, some people find chess too complicated!" arguments to be specious. Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition has, finally, managed to hit an ideal sweet spot between accessibility for newcomers and depth for TTRPG veterans; I'm not pretending it's a perfect game by any means, but it's hit that balance point more successfully than any edition before. If your goal is to assert that they should divert from that sweet spot by throwing in an entirely new, opaque casting system, the burden of proof is very much on you to demonstrate that you're not dumping a metaphorical dollop of mayonnaise into their chocolate fondue.
And that is fine? What is wrong with having some abilities locked behind frequency? If psionics has an ability as powerful as Divine Intervention, waiting for a week to recharge is pretty generous. Psionics as system also does not have to strictly use frequency either. Spell casting uses resource consumption, level requirements, and to a lesser extent frequency (to recharge spell slots), with some spells having various other drawbacks or limitations. Invocations uses a variety of them too. Ki, Metamagic, and Maneuvers uses level requirements, a little bit of resource consumption, and frequency to recharge those resources. Fighting Styles do not have much in the way of drawbacks or limitations, so they are pretty weak in general, but Blind Fighting is quite a bit stronger than others in my opinion.
For Invocations, Devil Sight replicates the Dark Vision spell, but is far more powerful. Aspect of the Moon is really strong too, since that frees up sleep time to do light activity, and you can combo it with the Alert feat, so the party cannot be surprised when resting.
Ki can make you immune to disease and poison and you are proficient in all saving throws. They are pretty powerful in my opinion, and they are only locked behind a level requirement.
Maneuvers and Fighting Styles are significantly weaker than spells. It would be nice if some of their abilities can be stronger.
If a psionics ability is similar in power and scope as Divine Intervention, 7 day wait along with a high level requirement is a pretty good deal, especially since you can cast it for free. I do not think every psionics ability needs to be that powerful, and I do not think every the ability needs to be locked behind only frequency limitations either. A variety of powers, a variety in levels of power, and a variety of different limitations would be nice. If psionics and every other system in D&D has a fraction of the depth of spell casting and a level of power approaching spell casting, I think that would satisfy a lot of different people. Martials would be more interesting to play, and non-wizard spell casters would not just feel like weaker wizards.
And why does psionics have to conform to spell casting and magic rules rather than be closer to Ki or Invocations or Maneuvers? I do not think it has to confirm to any existing system either, and it can be its own unique thing. Instead of consuming slots, points, or dice, it can be like Fighting Styles where it is always on; and instead of consuming dice as you use abilities, you reduce the dice size instead, and particularly powerful abilities can require more than one dice size reduction as a cost. Being based on a deck of cards is also an option like the Deck of Many Things, although that might be a bit too clunky and unwieldy for players compared to GMs. For simplicity, I would just go with the Ki, Maneuvers, and Metamagic system, but it does not have to. To make things even more simple, they can even have psionic abilities cost HP instead so there is one less resource to track.
Divine Intervention is not automatically blocked by antimagic field. A cleric can obviously ask their diety to cast Fireball for them, but it generally makes more sense for clerics to ask their diety to help them defeat an enemy, and let the GM choos a reasonably powerful intervention to help accomplish that request. And if Antimagic Field is present, I think it would be a dick move if the GM casts a spell on purpose to get it cancelled, rather than trying to help the cleric out with a method that does not get denied by the field, like making the enemy trip and lose their concentration or something. Outright killing the enemy is also an option, but only the most dire of situations would warrant that, like a high level boss fight where Divine Intervention is the last resort and the cleric gets to enjoy the spot light and saves the day.
There is a lack of high level campaigns, and Wizards has not exactly done a good job of dispelling the myth that running high level campaigns is super difficult. I mean, the TTRPG community as a whole has not done a good job transitioning players to GMs, and people think being a GM is a pain in the ass, stressful, and hard, when in reality it is not even that bad.
If you a paid GM or are GMing for strangers, sure that can be difficult, but I assume most GMs play with their friends and family, and if you are running a homebrew campaign, there is honestly not that much work that needs to be done. You can put in a lot of effort like world building and fleshing out NPCs, but it is not necessary. GMs who want to put in the work can, but it is not needed. Pulling stuff out of your butt and doing improv is just as valid, and it is way, way, way easier, since there is barely any prep work that needs to be done.
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If you're okay with 7-day recharge for psionics and that works for you, great. I'm not going to tell you what you should like.
But you viewing frequency as a "lesser extent" is a fundamental problem I have with your mindset regarding the printed game's design. It's not lesser, at all - the rest-basis for spell slot recovery is an absolute cornerstone of the system and the power level that spells are allowed to have. Even the Warlock, which is short-rest-based, suddenly becomes long-rest-based when you get above 5th-level spells. That's completely intentional. And if you still don't view it that way, we probably have too big an impasse on the edition's underlying design for further debate to be productive.
Please cite the martial class that is limited to literally one weapon. They do not exist. That using a weapon does not require spellcasting does not in and of itself guarantee that the caster will have a spell more effective for any given situation than the martial weapon.
No one is saying that Psionics should be as powerful as DI, either. These are false equivalences. DI was brought up to show a high end power that is not subject to AMF, etc. If a high end power can be, why can't lower powers? Again, not on a 1 for 1, the Psion gets everything any given caster class has but with fewer restrictions, but just, to some practical level, be able to do such things
I listed rather a lot more than just Chess and pretty much every TTRPG is more complex than chess. Those comments were in response to an Ashia post and not meant as directed at the personal preferences of them, you, or any given person. Not sure why there is any obligation on me to do any in depth sales pitch at all with respect to this, again, particularly since it is, at most, basic theorycrafting. You seem to be trying to insist that unless I (or any given proponent of anything) publish a full, ready to go proposal with all potential flaws worked out, that therefore the very idea itself should be rejected.
Again, these would be optional rules at a time when new books of optional rules no matter how good are a tough to impossible sell, so not sure how anything is being dumped into anyone's anything.
I'm sure there are people who play higher level games.
I'm also certain that the consistent comment about adventures taking place over level 15 are comparatively rare and due to how the rules simply don't handle a party that is around that level very well.
1. Ki does create magical effects.
2. Maneuvers are reflections of martial prowess and don't require defiance of the laws of physics.
I'm sorry that the stictest interpretation of the rules does not agree with what you'd like them to be.
Now, If I was in this situation as a GM and a player succeeded at the miserable chance to get this work? I would consider what they were hoping the god would do, consider the domain/responsibilities of the god and put through an effect based on a spell but since gods are operating at a much higher level of being then mortals their acts would supercede such a zone unless it had been created by another divine effect (IE bones of a fallen god from the time of troubles in FR or a preceding act of God).
Regardless: it's still magic.
Ki can be used by some monks to create some magical effects. A fireball (magical) can light a non-magical fire, in addition to the fire damage it does directly. This does not mean that everything done with Ki is magical any more than it means that fireballs are somehow really non-magical.
Your strictest interpretation does not equal RAW simply by way of being your strictest interpretation. By your interpretation, an AMF causes real havok in the world since nature, itself may well exist or at least function due to the power of a Nature God or even an entire pantheon. Miserable chance, by the way? Base is 10%. Level or lower on percentile dice. 10% chance is pretty high, considering the power and the fact you can keep praying. Again, the 7 day timer only starts on a success.
Nowhere in the ability description does it say that it is magic.
I really can't follow all of this debate, but the focus on countering and dispelling for psionics is bizarre. It's as though you have this interesting idea for a concept (psionics) that has many possible interesting interpretations, but you choose to make the whole franchise hinge on knocking out one of the key pillars of balancing the game (cancellability). Why is this so central to that particular power fantasy?
Weapons are all different aesthetically, but in the broad strokes they all do the same thing mechanically - you attack, hit, and roll a certain kind and quantity of dice for damage. Cantrips are far more varied - some do the above, some trigger saving throws, some improve your skills, some move or manipulate objects from afar, some create obstacles, some help you communicate etc. They're not at all comparable, and once you get into leveled spells the divergence only grows.
DI is allowed to break transparency while maintaining the broad power level of spellcasting because it's both balanced for that (i.e. it's more powerful than spellcasting, but with a heftier cost if it even works), and properly explained in the fiction, i.e. being a literal act of god(s). You have yet to propose either for psionics - just a vague "I guess we could adjust the resources and frequency somehow, probably?" - which incidentally is exactly what a sorcerer Subtly casting all their spells already does - and the fictional justification for psionics being opaque to magic is that they're not magic, which is circular reasoning.
I certainly have no way of accepting something that even the people who want it seem incapable of properly describing. So if you're not willing to propose anything more detailed, I'm not sure what else you could possibly expect from me then - you'll just keep getting a "no, I don't think it's feasible." And if you'd rather not read any dissenting opinions, well, there are forum tools to help you.
I really don't know why they've chosen that hill to die on either.
(Also, don't forget detectability, resource transparency, feat transparency, item transparency, and species transparency.)
If I was to be a more bitter and cynical sort I'd think it was because the proponents of psionics want a treehouse magic system that is able to do end runs around the limitations that exist for wizards so that they can just be betterer.
More Likely, I think they don't understand that having (not)magic as a system just makes the game a more confusing and imbalanced mess.