Like seriously: If people can just accept that Psionics is another form of magic Like a bard's spellsong, monk's chi or a priest's miracles this whole god damn fiasco would be resolved so much more quickly and easily with none of the concerns over the extent mechanics that exist within the game.
Because that is my biggest concern and issue with Psionics, the ability to integrate it into the extent framework of the game.
Like seriously: If people can just accept that Psionics is another form of magic Like a bard's spellsong, monk's chi or a priest's miracles this whole god damn fiasco would be resolved so much more quickly and easily with none of the concerns over the extent mechanics that exist within the game.
Because that is my biggest concern and issue with Psionics, the ability to integrate it into the extent framework of the game.
Again, Ki flows through all living creatures (per the same section that says it is magical). So, if Ki is magical in the normal mechanics meaning of the term, equating it to cleric or bard spells, then every living creature is a magical creature.
This is a situation where the looseness of 5e mechanics causes issues. In 3e or 4e you could just look at an abilities' tags and determine how it interacted with other mechanics (for example, an anti-magic field would apply to abilities tagged Su or Sp, but not Ex) but 5e for some reason decided that power tagging was a bad idea, so you wind up needing to do textual analysis.
Psionics in its limited current state already functions like this though?
How so? the current state is that psionic abilities are either spells without components (Aberrant Mind, Psi Warrior TK, racials like Gith) or they are neither (i.e. "background magic" or nonmagical.) There is no "this ability is overtly/foreground magical except it isn't and oh by the way it's on par with foreground magic power-wise."
Not all class abilities in those subclasses are magical in nature. For Aberrant Mind and Soulknife, I guess most of their abilities are magical, but Psychic Defense (Aberrant Mind) and Psi Bolstered Knack (Soulknife) are non magical. For Psi Warrior, Psionic Strike (and by extension Telekinetic Thrust) and Telekinetic Master are magical, but the rest of the abilities are not.
Psionics in its limited current state already functions like this though? Expanding psionics will make the game a bit more complicated, but it is no more complicated than expanding the maneuvers or invocation system. All the psionic subclasses so far got some psionic abilities that are magical, and some psionic abilities that are not magical.
The only effects on the aberrant mind sorcerer or great old one warlock that aren't explicitly magical are resistance to psychic damage (telepathy is defined as magical), which is arguably not even a psionic power at all. The psi warrior and soulknife do have abilities that are specifically magical (psychic veil says it's magical, telekinetic master casts a spell), their other abilities aren't specifically stated to be magical, though it's pretty challenging to come up with a logic for which abilities are magical and which are not.
I guess Aberrant Mind and Soulknife are not the greatest examples since it is just Psychic Defense (Aberrant Mind) and Psi Bolstered Knack (Soulknife) for them, but it is something.
But for Psi Warrior, Protective Field, Telekinetic Movement, Psi Powered Leap, Guarded Mind, and Bulwark of Force are not magical. Psionic Strike is magical since force damage is inherently magical, and while Telekinetic Thrust does not say it is magical, since it is reliant on Psionic Strike succeeding, I would argue that it is magical too. Telekinetic Master is magical since it casts a spell.
I do not think it is challenging to discern whether an ability is magical or not. If an ability does not say it is magical, then it is not magical. It is as simple as that.
Like seriously: If people can just accept that Psionics is another form of magic Like a bard's spellsong, monk's chi or a priest's miracles this whole god damn fiasco would be resolved so much more quickly and easily with none of the concerns over the extent mechanics that exist within the game.
Because that is my biggest concern and issue with Psionics, the ability to integrate it into the extent framework of the game.
If you are referring to cleric's class abilities, while a lot of them are magical, Divine Intervention is not magical by default, and I do not think there is anything wrong with that. I do not think it is necessary to have all magical (from our real life perspective) effects be magical (as a game mechanic).
I think it is fine to further expand and incorporate psionics into the game. Just as not all Invocations are magical, and I do not think all psionics need to be magical either.
For something that is magical from our view, but not magical in game, Blind Fighting Fighting Style would be one example. A deaf human Fighter in complete darkness could get that Fighting Style and be able to "see" with a limited range for example, even though there is no realistic way that they can do that from our real life perspective. Just because something is magical to us does not mean that it has to be magical in the game.
I do not think it is challenging to discern whether an ability is magical or not. If an ability does not say it is magical, then it is not magical. It is as simple as that.
My point wasn't that it's hard to discern whether an ability is magical, it's that it's hard to discern why it is or isn't magical (though it's not as easy as you say; for example, telepathy in the subclass doesn't say it's magical, but the description of the telepathy power in the monster manual does).
For something that is magical from our view, but not magical in game, Blind Fighting Fighting Style would be one example. A deaf human Fighter in complete darkness could get that Fighting Style and be able to "see" with a limited range for example, even though there is no realistic way that they can do that from our real life perspective. Just because something is magical to us does not mean that it has to be magical in the game.
I can explain that via a lot of methods without ever having to rely on "magic"
Tactile: the character is able to feel a combination of vibrations in the ground and changes in the air around then causing them to have a better sense of changes in their immediate environment.
Chemoreceptors: Less likely but plausible, the character is able to sense the presence of their opponent by smell.
Instinct: The character's fighting skills have been honed to the point where they can intuitively sense the presence of those around them.
Echolocalitations by humans is totally possible in the real life. Even you can find in the wikipedia an article about that.
* What about the magic beasts with spell-like abilities? For example the shocker lizard, and other no-sentient pokemon-like creatures. They can't understand the arcane magic but they can enjoy some magic powers, or should we say psionic?
* This debate is like members of different urban tribes arguing about if they would wear certain clothing. Someones would do it and others didn't.
* Even if WotC wanted to update the psionic powers, some players would want to be added ideas from different 3PPs.
* What is the difference between a mystic and a sorcerer? The sorcerer uses magic like a tool, and this is right, but the mystic works more about the "within power" or being "attuned" with cosmic forces. Then the jedi knights would be mystic or psionic more than arcane magic.
For something that is magical from our view, but not magical in game, Blind Fighting Fighting Style would be one example. A deaf human Fighter in complete darkness could get that Fighting Style and be able to "see" with a limited range for example, even though there is no realistic way that they can do that from our real life perspective. Just because something is magical to us does not mean that it has to be magical in the game.
I can explain that via a lot of methods without ever having to rely on "magic"
Tactile: the character is able to feel a combination of vibrations in the ground and changes in the air around then causing them to have a better sense of changes in their immediate environment.
Chemoreceptors: Less likely but plausible, the character is able to sense the presence of their opponent by smell.
Instinct: The character's fighting skills have been honed to the point where they can intuitively sense the presence of those around them.
Or some combination of all 3.
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.
Obviously, it can be argued that D&D humans are different from real life humans, and D&D humans naturally has the capacity to develop their senses to the point of blindsight. And by the same token, it can also be argued that psionics is also a natural part of D&D's reality, and psionics in itself is not inherently magical, but it can be magical depending on the circumstance.
I do not think it is challenging to discern whether an ability is magical or not. If an ability does not say it is magical, then it is not magical. It is as simple as that.
My point wasn't that it's hard to discern whether an ability is magical, it's that it's hard to discern why it is or isn't magical (though it's not as easy as you say; for example, telepathy in the subclass doesn't say it's magical, but the description of the telepathy power in the monster manual does).
Fair point about information not being easily accessible in its entirety. Unless you are a GM and have skimmed most of the rulebooks, you might not realize some abilities are magical. Even if you are a GM, you might not always remember what is magical and what is not.
I am not sure if it is necessary for us to discern why a magical effect (from our perspective) is magical or not magical (in game mechanic terms). The laws of physics are different, so what might seem magical to us could just be mundane in the D&D universe.
Not all class abilities in those subclasses are magical in nature. For Aberrant Mind and Soulknife, I guess most of their abilities are magical, but Psychic Defense (Aberrant Mind) and Psi Bolstered Knack (Soulknife) are non magical. For Psi Warrior, Psionic Strike (and by extension Telekinetic Thrust) and Telekinetic Master are magical, but the rest of the abilities are not.
I'm aware of that but that's exactly my point. The abilities that are not magical are not on par with spellcasting, thus them not interacting with the things that affect/detect/counter spellcasting is unnecessary.
If you want psionics to be de facto weaker, then having it be opaque to spellcasting things is fine. But that's not the impression I got reading this thread - rather, the impression I got is that psionics proponents want it to be on par with spellcasting, but without that factor that would keep it properly balanced or supported.
This is a situation where the looseness of 5e mechanics causes issues. In 3e or 4e you could just look at an abilities' tags and determine how it interacted with other mechanics (for example, an anti-magic field would apply to abilities tagged Su or Sp, but not Ex) but 5e for some reason decided that power tagging was a bad idea, so you wind up needing to do textual analysis.
Even in 3.5 where we had those tags though, the balance considerations remained. Ex and Na abilities, which were able to ignore antimagic and detection etc, were generally not on par with Su and Sp/Ps abilities which didn't.
Not all class abilities in those subclasses are magical in nature. For Aberrant Mind and Soulknife, I guess most of their abilities are magical, but Psychic Defense (Aberrant Mind) and Psi Bolstered Knack (Soulknife) are non magical. For Psi Warrior, Psionic Strike (and by extension Telekinetic Thrust) and Telekinetic Master are magical, but the rest of the abilities are not.
I'm aware of that but that's exactly my point. The abilities that are not magical are not on par with spellcasting, thus them not interacting with the things that affect/detect/counter spellcasting is unnecessary.
If you want psionics to be de facto weaker, then having it be opaque to spellcasting things is fine. But that's not the impression I got reading this thread - rather, the impression I got is that psionics proponents want it to be on par with spellcasting, but without that factor that would keep it properly balanced or supported.
Based on that logic, a dragon's breath weapon, since it has nothing to do with Spellcasting ability, should be weaker than any cast spell, or that racial or class based darkvision must be inferior to that provided by a cast spell. It is neither true, nor does it follow that such absolute statements need to be absolutes for there to be balance.
Not all class abilities in those subclasses are magical in nature. For Aberrant Mind and Soulknife, I guess most of their abilities are magical, but Psychic Defense (Aberrant Mind) and Psi Bolstered Knack (Soulknife) are non magical. For Psi Warrior, Psionic Strike (and by extension Telekinetic Thrust) and Telekinetic Master are magical, but the rest of the abilities are not.
I'm aware of that but that's exactly my point. The abilities that are not magical are not on par with spellcasting, thus them not interacting with the things that affect/detect/counter spellcasting is unnecessary.
If you want psionics to be de facto weaker, then having it be opaque to spellcasting things is fine. But that's not the impression I got reading this thread - rather, the impression I got is that psionics proponents want it to be on par with spellcasting, but without that factor that would keep it properly balanced or supported.
Based on that logic, a dragon's breath weapon, since it has nothing to do with Spellcasting ability, should be weaker than any cast spell, or that racial or class based darkvision must be inferior to that provided by a cast spell. It is neither true, nor does it follow that such absolute statements need to be absolutes for there to be balance.
Dragons aren’t PCs, though. So, they don’t face the same balancing issues.
Based on that logic, a dragon's breath weapon, since it has nothing to do with Spellcasting ability, should be weaker than any cast spell, or that racial or class based darkvision must be inferior to that provided by a cast spell. It is neither true, nor does it follow that such absolute statements need to be absolutes for there to be balance.
Weaker than a given spell, obviously that depends on the spell - but weaker than spellcasting in general, yes, it should be. Generally, a dragon's breath weapon does a set amount of damage in a line or cone. It is in no way as powerful or versatile as spellcasting in general, and that's why it doesn't need to be transparent.
Based on that logic, a dragon's breath weapon, since it has nothing to do with Spellcasting ability, should be weaker than any cast spell, or that racial or class based darkvision must be inferior to that provided by a cast spell. It is neither true, nor does it follow that such absolute statements need to be absolutes for there to be balance.
Dragons are not PCs; there's no way of telling whether dragon's breath is strong or weak for its level because monsters don't have levels.
Not all class abilities in those subclasses are magical in nature. For Aberrant Mind and Soulknife, I guess most of their abilities are magical, but Psychic Defense (Aberrant Mind) and Psi Bolstered Knack (Soulknife) are non magical. For Psi Warrior, Psionic Strike (and by extension Telekinetic Thrust) and Telekinetic Master are magical, but the rest of the abilities are not.
I'm aware of that but that's exactly my point. The abilities that are not magical are not on par with spellcasting, thus them not interacting with the things that affect/detect/counter spellcasting is unnecessary.
If you want psionics to be de facto weaker, then having it be opaque to spellcasting things is fine. But that's not the impression I got reading this thread - rather, the impression I got is that psionics proponents want it to be on par with spellcasting, but without that factor that would keep it properly balanced or supported.
Based on that logic, a dragon's breath weapon, since it has nothing to do with Spellcasting ability, should be weaker than any cast spell, or that racial or class based darkvision must be inferior to that provided by a cast spell. It is neither true, nor does it follow that such absolute statements need to be absolutes for there to be balance.
Dragons aren’t PCs, though. So, they don’t face the same balancing issues.
And Darkvision?
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.
Not all class abilities in those subclasses are magical in nature. For Aberrant Mind and Soulknife, I guess most of their abilities are magical, but Psychic Defense (Aberrant Mind) and Psi Bolstered Knack (Soulknife) are non magical. For Psi Warrior, Psionic Strike (and by extension Telekinetic Thrust) and Telekinetic Master are magical, but the rest of the abilities are not.
I'm aware of that but that's exactly my point. The abilities that are not magical are not on par with spellcasting, thus them not interacting with the things that affect/detect/counter spellcasting is unnecessary.
If you want psionics to be de facto weaker, then having it be opaque to spellcasting things is fine. But that's not the impression I got reading this thread - rather, the impression I got is that psionics proponents want it to be on par with spellcasting, but without that factor that would keep it properly balanced or supported.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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Like seriously: If people can just accept that Psionics is another form of magic Like a bard's spellsong, monk's chi or a priest's miracles this whole god damn fiasco would be resolved so much more quickly and easily with none of the concerns over the extent mechanics that exist within the game.
Because that is my biggest concern and issue with Psionics, the ability to integrate it into the extent framework of the game.
Again, Ki flows through all living creatures (per the same section that says it is magical). So, if Ki is magical in the normal mechanics meaning of the term, equating it to cleric or bard spells, then every living creature is a magical creature.
This is a situation where the looseness of 5e mechanics causes issues. In 3e or 4e you could just look at an abilities' tags and determine how it interacted with other mechanics (for example, an anti-magic field would apply to abilities tagged Su or Sp, but not Ex) but 5e for some reason decided that power tagging was a bad idea, so you wind up needing to do textual analysis.
Not all class abilities in those subclasses are magical in nature. For Aberrant Mind and Soulknife, I guess most of their abilities are magical, but Psychic Defense (Aberrant Mind) and Psi Bolstered Knack (Soulknife) are non magical. For Psi Warrior, Psionic Strike (and by extension Telekinetic Thrust) and Telekinetic Master are magical, but the rest of the abilities are not.
I guess Aberrant Mind and Soulknife are not the greatest examples since it is just Psychic Defense (Aberrant Mind) and Psi Bolstered Knack (Soulknife) for them, but it is something.
But for Psi Warrior, Protective Field, Telekinetic Movement, Psi Powered Leap, Guarded Mind, and Bulwark of Force are not magical. Psionic Strike is magical since force damage is inherently magical, and while Telekinetic Thrust does not say it is magical, since it is reliant on Psionic Strike succeeding, I would argue that it is magical too. Telekinetic Master is magical since it casts a spell.
I do not think it is challenging to discern whether an ability is magical or not. If an ability does not say it is magical, then it is not magical. It is as simple as that.
If you are referring to cleric's class abilities, while a lot of them are magical, Divine Intervention is not magical by default, and I do not think there is anything wrong with that. I do not think it is necessary to have all magical (from our real life perspective) effects be magical (as a game mechanic).
I think it is fine to further expand and incorporate psionics into the game. Just as not all Invocations are magical, and I do not think all psionics need to be magical either.
For something that is magical from our view, but not magical in game, Blind Fighting Fighting Style would be one example. A deaf human Fighter in complete darkness could get that Fighting Style and be able to "see" with a limited range for example, even though there is no realistic way that they can do that from our real life perspective. Just because something is magical to us does not mean that it has to be magical in the game.
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My point wasn't that it's hard to discern whether an ability is magical, it's that it's hard to discern why it is or isn't magical (though it's not as easy as you say; for example, telepathy in the subclass doesn't say it's magical, but the description of the telepathy power in the monster manual does).
I can explain that via a lot of methods without ever having to rely on "magic"
Or some combination of all 3.
Echolocalitations by humans is totally possible in the real life. Even you can find in the wikipedia an article about that.
* What about the magic beasts with spell-like abilities? For example the shocker lizard, and other no-sentient pokemon-like creatures. They can't understand the arcane magic but they can enjoy some magic powers, or should we say psionic?
* This debate is like members of different urban tribes arguing about if they would wear certain clothing. Someones would do it and others didn't.
* Even if WotC wanted to update the psionic powers, some players would want to be added ideas from different 3PPs.
* What is the difference between a mystic and a sorcerer? The sorcerer uses magic like a tool, and this is right, but the mystic works more about the "within power" or being "attuned" with cosmic forces. Then the jedi knights would be mystic or psionic more than arcane magic.
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.
Obviously, it can be argued that D&D humans are different from real life humans, and D&D humans naturally has the capacity to develop their senses to the point of blindsight. And by the same token, it can also be argued that psionics is also a natural part of D&D's reality, and psionics in itself is not inherently magical, but it can be magical depending on the circumstance.
Fair point about information not being easily accessible in its entirety. Unless you are a GM and have skimmed most of the rulebooks, you might not realize some abilities are magical. Even if you are a GM, you might not always remember what is magical and what is not.
I am not sure if it is necessary for us to discern why a magical effect (from our perspective) is magical or not magical (in game mechanic terms). The laws of physics are different, so what might seem magical to us could just be mundane in the D&D universe.
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I'm aware of that but that's exactly my point. The abilities that are not magical are not on par with spellcasting, thus them not interacting with the things that affect/detect/counter spellcasting is unnecessary.
If you want psionics to be de facto weaker, then having it be opaque to spellcasting things is fine. But that's not the impression I got reading this thread - rather, the impression I got is that psionics proponents want it to be on par with spellcasting, but without that factor that would keep it properly balanced or supported.
Even in 3.5 where we had those tags though, the balance considerations remained. Ex and Na abilities, which were able to ignore antimagic and detection etc, were generally not on par with Su and Sp/Ps abilities which didn't.
Based on that logic, a dragon's breath weapon, since it has nothing to do with Spellcasting ability, should be weaker than any cast spell, or that racial or class based darkvision must be inferior to that provided by a cast spell. It is neither true, nor does it follow that such absolute statements need to be absolutes for there to be balance.
Dragons aren’t PCs, though. So, they don’t face the same balancing issues.
Weaker than a given spell, obviously that depends on the spell - but weaker than spellcasting in general, yes, it should be. Generally, a dragon's breath weapon does a set amount of damage in a line or cone. It is in no way as powerful or versatile as spellcasting in general, and that's why it doesn't need to be transparent.
Dragons are not PCs; there's no way of telling whether dragon's breath is strong or weak for its level because monsters don't have levels.
And Darkvision?
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.
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.
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.
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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).
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.