Flush, I don't want to be rude and I hope I don't come off that way, but I don't think you're understanding what Yurei and other folks have been saying in this thread. Spells just aren't going to cut it, and spellcasting, for us, is just too flawed of a vehicle to use.
And I think that if what Yurei and other folks want is an entirely new set of rules for Brane PoweRz that are explicitly Not Majik they're going to continue to be disappointed because it's not going to happen.
Flush...we know that already. We've known ever since Tahsa's came out. Again, I don't want to be rude, but I genuinely don't know what you're trying to accomplish here.
Edit: As an alternative class model, keep the beefed up mage hand and Int based Pact Magic, lose the invocations and replace that with reskinned Sorcery Points and metamagic, and give it subclasses at first level with a progression of features mechanically comparable to Cleric Domains. If you want "something like Ki Points but for Brane PoweRz," you can use the Foure Elements Monk as a model. When's the last time you heard somebody talk about how much they love that subclass?
The Four Elements monk's biggest problems are inherent to it's design, in that 1: it's a subclass that wants desperately to be a caster but hasn't been properly equipped to be one, and 2: their subclass features directly complete with their class features. While Tasha's took steps to alleviate that last problem, it's still going to suffer from them until we get to see what the 2024 redux has in store. If we use that model for a chassis, so long as it has an adequate breadth of options and their features aren't conflicting with each other, I think it could work pretty well.
It...requires you to be within Thrown Sandwich distance of the target - thirty feet is nothing. It requires you to be able to clearly see your target, meaning you cannot use it from cover or concealment, such as being in the next room. It requires you to scream Magic Words at the top of your lungs, waggle your fingers in an intricate magical gesture, and dig into your component pouch - note, not your wallet, SPECIFICALLY your component pouch - for a copper piece. Which is admittedly at least a very mildly amusing joke, but still. And for this effort, you get...what most DMs would give you with a basic, low DC Insight check. The NPC's general mood, what it's daydreaming about, and how likely it is that what it's daydreaming about is how weird it was that Justin Bieber was ever popular. Try to get more? The NPC immediately knows everything about you, knows that you specifically are attempting to read its brain no matter what obfuscating measures you take. It knows your thoughts and emotions. It knows your name, your address, your political stance and sexual orientation. It knows the names of your party members, the names of your family, and the names of every single person who's ever spoken to you even if those people never gave you their names. It knows your class level, your stats, your current and maximum HP, and the class levels, stats, and current/maximum HP of your entire party. It knows when you were born, and it knows when you will die - and all of that even if it fails its save. If it succeeds, it gets all of that whilst simultaneously locking its mind down like an impenetrable fortress and shutting you out so hard you'll never be able to cast Detect Thoughts again.
Are we reading the same spell description? There is absolutely nothing in it that says a target that makes the save knows anything other than you are attempting to read it's thoughts. Yes, that happens regardless of the save but it gains absolutely zero other information about you. It also says nothing about any penalties to casting the spell on the same subject again. And there is nothing in the magic rules anywhere that says material components have to be pulled from a special receptacle immediately before casting a spell, only that you're able to have it in your hand at the time of casting. Nor is there anything about screaming verbal components; the only restriction listed in the rules is that they can't be spoken if the character is gagged or in an "area of silence." Speaking softly enough that someone would only notice if specifically paying attention to you in particular should suffice. If you've had to deal with all those restrictions it sounds to me your problem is with your DM adding a bunch of extra restrictions, not the actual spell itself.
I will grant that the target immediately knowing you're reading it's thoughts on a failed save is just stupid though, as even charm spells that actively alter mood and emotion don't alert the subject until the spell ends. Detect thoughts is an underwhelming spell in general, but that doesn't validate the straight up false things you're saying about it, even less your holding it up as a strawman for how all psychic related magic is terrible.
And it's worth noting that while things like dealing damage or enhancing mobility can be easily quantified, described, and mechanically balanced the same does not go for mind reading and mind influencing effects. It's a fuzzy subject to begin with, and common player expectations on what charm person should accomplish is a prime example.
As to using magic as the basis for Brane PoweRz, magic is a system that already exists and has balances for it built into the game. You want something that has similar effects as magic then it has to have the same balances. "But it isn't magic, so resistances don't apply! And you can only stop or cancel it's effects if you have Brane PoweRz too, but my disrupt action targets their brain so it can counter spells!" And "My Brain Puncher doesn't need spell components to use his powers so I should be able to do a brain boom that's the same as fireball but force damage while holding things with both hands or bound in a way that prevents every other class in the game from accomplishing jack squat!" A completely new and separate set of rules that is explicitly Not Magic is not going to happen.
By the same token, if you want something to be doable at will, it's going to have the same limitations as a cantrip. Fine, call it something else if you really want to, but it can not do anything that is demonstrably more than a cantrip unless it is a singular, core class ability and that means less other stuff you get. Something that scales directly proportional to class level at all is already more powerful than any spell and nearly any ability in the game. Aasimar bonus damage under their once per day transformation effects did but they nerfed the hell out of that with MMotM. I'm sure there are a few others but the only one immediately coming to mind is a Death Cleric's channel divinity and that requires somebody with medium armor and only one attack per round to be in melee (where they probably shouldn't be in the first place) and score a melee hit to be able to use so there are some not-insignificant challenges to it. And no, you're never going to convince anybody who knows what game balance actually is that a fifth level spell or a comparable effect at will is fair under any circumstance.
Verbal, somatic, and material components are explicitly tools and techniques used to focus one's mental capacity, faith, or force of will in a manner conducive to creating the desired effect and I don't see how Brane PoweRz should require any less focus than magic thematically, let alone mechanically. Material components that aren't specifically expensive can be substituted with a spellcasting focus. If the spell list specifically limits away most of the super flashy effects (mostly things like high power wizard and sorcerer destructo-spells) I'd have no objection to even using the same rules as Clerics where the character doesn't even have to be actively handling their focus as long as it's on their person. I don't remember much about psionics rules from 3.5 because I never actually used them but I'm pretty sure that they required a "psi crystal" or some similar focus to work even as part of an overly complicated separate Not Majik system. Power Word [x] spells would almost definitely be of at least one level lower than they all are if they had more than verbal components (well maybe not power word kill but ninth level spells in general are all ridiculous in one way or another, which is why you only get one per day). If you want Brane PoweRz that don't have the same restrictions as magic, you can not get comparable effects from them. Period.
Okay, I've been working on this concept on and off for a bit, but I've written up 3 levels as a sort of "proof of concept" for how I think a class like this could work. I based it partly on the existing Psychic classes, in that it relies on Psychic Energy Dice, but I changed a bit how they work. For these first 3 levels the only spell this class learns is Mage Hand, and I do ultimately think of its effects as being magical in nature, so spells and abilities that block magic would still work against them. But I tried to avoid having this be a spellcaster class, and I'm extremely open to suggestions, but I figured I had enough to show how I've been thinking about this...
The Psion
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8
Hit Points at first level: 8+ Your Constitution Modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + Your Constitution Modifier Per Psion level after the 1
Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Hand Crossbow
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
Languages: You know one additional language of your choice
You start with the following items, plus anything provided by your background
* (a) A Quarterstaff or (b) Any Simple Weapon
* (a) An Explorer’s Pack or (b) A Scholar’s Pack
Alternatively, you may start with 4d4 x 10 gp to buy your own equipment
Multiclassing
Ability Score Minimum: 13 Intelligence
Psychic Defenses
Beginning at 1 level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 13+ your Intelligence modifier
Psionic Power
You Harbor a Wellspring of Psionic energy within yourself. This is represented by your Psionic Energy Dice, which are a d6. You have a number of dice equal to twice your Proficiency Bonus, and they fuel your psionic powers.
Some of your Psionic Powers expend the Psionic Energy Die, as specified in the Power’s description. If you have no available Psionic Energy Die, you can instead expend one use of your Hit Dice gained from This Class, rolling 1d8 instead of your Psionic Energy Dice size. You can’t use a power if it requires you to expend a die and you have no Psionic Energy Dice or Hit Dice. You Regain all your Psionic Energy Dice when you finish a Long Rest.
When you reach certain levels in this class, the size of your Psionic Energy Dice increases, at 5 level (d8), 11 level (d10), 17 level (d12)
Some of your Psionic Features require a target to make a saving throw to resist the feature’s effects. The Saving Throw DC is calculated as follows:
Psionic save DC = 8 + Your proficiency bonus + Your Intelligence Modifier
Psychic Force
You know the Mage Hand Cantrip. You can cast it without Verbal or Somatic components and you can make the spectral hand invisible. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
You gain a new attack option that you can use with the Attack Action. The special attack is a ranged spell attack with a range of 30 feet. You are proficient with it, and you add your Intelligence Modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage is Psychic and its damage die is equal to your Psionics Energy Dice.
Psychic Communication
You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You can expend one use of your Psionics Energy Dice, rolling it and increasing the range of your telepathy by 10x the number rolled, you also gain the ability to communicate your messages even if you don’t share a language with the creature you are contacting, but the creature must understand at least one language.
Psionic Manipulation
Starting at 2 level, your mastery over your psionic powers increases.
Psionic Strike - when you take the Attack Action on your turn and hit a creature with an attack, you can expend one use of your Psionics Energy Dice, rolling it and dealing psychic damage to the target equal to the number you rolled.
Mind Grapple – As an action, you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice, rolling it and subtracting the number rolled from the first saving throw of one creature of your choice within 60 feet of you, which must succeed on a Strength Saving throw, or become Grappled in their place by your psychic powers. The creature can attempt this Saving Throw again at the end of each of its turns, and the condition ends automatically if you use your Mind Grapple on a different target.
Psychic Studies: Kinetics
Those who study the art of Kinetics learn to utilize their psionic powers in combat to control their enemies and protect their allies. They specialize in honing their Telekinetic potential, performing feats of strength using only the power of their minds.
Bonus Proficiencies
When you specialize in Kinetics Studies at 3 level, you gain proficiency with Martial Weapons, Light Armor, Medium Armor, and Shields.
Blade Puppetry
As a bonus action, you can cause any weapon you are proficient with within 30 feet that is not being held or carried by any creature other than yourself that lacks the Two-Handed Property to animate under your control. While animated, the weapon has an AC equal to your Psionic Save DC and HP equal to 5 times your Psion level. The weapon also has a fly speed of 30 feet (hover), and is immune to poison and psychic damage.
While animated, when you take the attack action on your turn you can attack using the Animated weapon as though you were standing in its space. When attacking in this manner, you must use your Intelligence modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity modifier, for the attack and damage rolls.
If the animated weapon has the Light property, you can use a bonus action to attack with it.
If a creature attempts to grapple the animated weapon, they must make an athletics check versus your Psionic Save DC. As a reaction to this grapple attempt, you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice, rolling the die and subtracting the number from the creature’s athletics check. If this causes their grapple to fail, they then take damage equal to the Psionic Energy Dice Roll of the weapon’s damage type. If they successfully grapple the weapon, it ceases being animated.
Detect Thoughts is a terrible spell that's hedged around so severely it's a miracle the spell is ever useful at all.
And any psychic version will be just as bad. Detect Thoughts isn't bad because of hostility to psi, it's bad because it was Broken Destroyer of Plots in previous editions and they nerfed it until it was no longer Broken Destroyer of Plots. Same for spells like Charm Person.
I like it as well. One thing is I found the wording of Mind Grapple a little hard to follow. I had to read it twice to understand what you meant. I don’t know if it would make more sense if, for Mind Grapple and the check to grapple the Blade Puppetry weapon, if you just added the roll of your Psi die to your save DC or contested check for blade puppetry. I see where you are going with it so maybe if it was worded differently it would make more sense.
But I really like it.
I do, however wonder if it would be just as well to make a mage hand -like class feature instead of casting a spell without components. I feel the same way for 4 Elements Monks too (their elemental disciplines should all be unique abilities instead of spells), so maybe I’m just biased.
Yeah, I'm not confident in the wording of that... I think I just wanted to make it clear that the boost from the Psychic Energy Dice only applies to the first Saving Throw, but not to subsequent saving throws. I think changing the wording so that the die roll is added to the Save DC might make it easier to read. I'll have to work on htat, but I think it's a good thing that the basic idea works, it's just not conveyed clearly.
My thoughts on the mage hand thing is that any class feature would probably function identically to Mage Hand, in the sense that for an always-on telekinetic ability to be balanced it would have to be roughly equivalent to Mage Hand to avoid being unbalanced, so you might as well just literally make it Mage Hand.
Yeah, I'm not confident in the wording of that... I think I just wanted to make it clear that the boost from the Psychic Energy Dice only applies to the first Saving Throw, but not to subsequent saving throws. I think changing the wording so that the die roll is added to the Save DC might make it easier to read. I'll have to work on htat, but I think it's a good thing that the basic idea works, it's just not conveyed clearly.
My thoughts on the mage hand thing is that any class feature would probably function identically to Mage Hand, in the sense that for an always-on telekinetic ability to be balanced it would have to be roughly equivalent to Mage Hand to avoid being unbalanced, so you might as well just literally make it Mage Hand.
Evocation Wizard and Careful Spell would like a word with you.
But everyone knows that's a whoops. Ultimately, I agree with you.
There was, back in 5e's infancy, a famous Unearthed Arcana from before the days when Unearthed Arcana was nothing but a lame public taste test. In it, a game dev went over the process he'd use to homebrew a variant of the Ranger class for someone who loved the idea of being a highly skilled and trained wild survivalist but wasn't in love with being half druid. He replaced the ranger's spellcasting class feature with Maneuvers, from the Battlemaster, and showed his reasoning behind doing so and how he'd rough out the balance of it to try and make the ranger work at roughly the same level without any spellcasting.
The Spell-less Ranger, as it was known, remains one of the most enduringly popular "failed" UA builds. I've seen many folks ask for ways to play it here in DDB. People really like the idea, and while it's been less visible since Tasha hotpatched the base ranger, I still catch murmurs of it here and there.
This whole conversation on psychic abilities, classes are subclasses, every time it comes up, reminds me of the whole thing today. Including the people whose response to folks looking to try the Spell-less Ranger is "god, why are you such a f@#$ing idiot? Don't reinvent the wheel, don't break shit. Just reflavor your spells as being special Nature Man maneuvers or tools or shit. It's not f@#$ing hard, just cast the damn spell except describe it as something other than a spell. You f@#$ing moron."
Oddly enough, that advice never really seems to fly in Spell-less Ranger threads, either. Hm.
Okay, I've been working on this concept on and off for a bit, but I've written up 3 levels as a sort of "proof of concept" for how I think a class like this could work. I based it partly on the existing Psychic classes, in that it relies on Psychic Energy Dice, but I changed a bit how they work. For these first 3 levels the only spell this class learns is Mage Hand, and I do ultimately think of its effects as being magical in nature, so spells and abilities that block magic would still work against them. But I tried to avoid having this be a spellcaster class, and I'm extremely open to suggestions, but I figured I had enough to show how I've been thinking about this...
The Psion
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8
Hit Points at first level: 8+ Your Constitution Modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + Your Constitution Modifier Per Psion level after the 1
Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Hand Crossbow
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
Languages: You know one additional language of your choice
You start with the following items, plus anything provided by your background
* (a) A Quarterstaff or (b) Any Simple Weapon
* (a) An Explorer’s Pack or (b) A Scholar’s Pack
Alternatively, you may start with 4d4 x 10 gp to buy your own equipment
Multiclassing
Ability Score Minimum: 13 Intelligence
Psychic Defenses
Beginning at 1 level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 13+ your Intelligence modifier
Psionic Power
You Harbor a Wellspring of Psionic energy within yourself. This is represented by your Psionic Energy Dice, which are a d6. You have a number of dice equal to twice your Proficiency Bonus, and they fuel your psionic powers.
Some of your Psionic Powers expend the Psionic Energy Die, as specified in the Power’s description. If you have no available Psionic Energy Die, you can instead expend one use of your Hit Dice gained from This Class, rolling 1d8 instead of your Psionic Energy Dice size. You can’t use a power if it requires you to expend a die and you have no Psionic Energy Dice or Hit Dice. You Regain all your Psionic Energy Dice when you finish a Long Rest.
When you reach certain levels in this class, the size of your Psionic Energy Dice increases, at 5 level (d8), 11 level (d10), 17 level (d12)
Some of your Psionic Features require a target to make a saving throw to resist the feature’s effects. The Saving Throw DC is calculated as follows:
Psionic save DC = 8 + Your proficiency bonus + Your Intelligence Modifier
Psychic Force
You know the Mage Hand Cantrip. You can cast it without Verbal or Somatic components and you can make the spectral hand invisible. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
You gain a new attack option that you can use with the Attack Action. The special attack is a ranged spell attack with a range of 30 feet. You are proficient with it, and you add your Intelligence Modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage is Psychic and its damage die is equal to your Psionics Energy Dice.
Psychic Communication
You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You can expend one use of your Psionics Energy Dice, rolling it and increasing the range of your telepathy by 10x the number rolled, you also gain the ability to communicate your messages even if you don’t share a language with the creature you are contacting, but the creature must understand at least one language.
Psionic Manipulation
Starting at 2 level, your mastery over your psionic powers increases.
Psionic Strike - when you take the Attack Action on your turn and hit a creature with an attack, you can expend one use of your Psionics Energy Dice, rolling it and dealing psychic damage to the target equal to the number you rolled.
Mind Grapple – As an action, you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice, rolling it and subtracting the number rolled from the first saving throw of one creature of your choice within 60 feet of you, which must succeed on a Strength Saving throw, or become Grappled in their place by your psychic powers. The creature can attempt this Saving Throw again at the end of each of its turns, and the condition ends automatically if you use your Mind Grapple on a different target.
Psychic Studies: Kinetics
Those who study the art of Kinetics learn to utilize their psionic powers in combat to control their enemies and protect their allies. They specialize in honing their Telekinetic potential, performing feats of strength using only the power of their minds.
Bonus Proficiencies
When you specialize in Kinetics Studies at 3 level, you gain proficiency with Martial Weapons, Light Armor, Medium Armor, and Shields.
Blade Puppetry
As a bonus action, you can cause any weapon you are proficient with within 30 feet that is not being held or carried by any creature other than yourself that lacks the Two-Handed Property to animate under your control. While animated, the weapon has an AC equal to your Psionic Save DC and HP equal to 5 times your Psion level. The weapon also has a fly speed of 30 feet (hover), and is immune to poison and psychic damage.
While animated, when you take the attack action on your turn you can attack using the Animated weapon as though you were standing in its space. When attacking in this manner, you must use your Intelligence modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity modifier, for the attack and damage rolls.
If the animated weapon has the Light property, you can use a bonus action to attack with it.
If a creature attempts to grapple the animated weapon, they must make an athletics check versus your Psionic Save DC. As a reaction to this grapple attempt, you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice, rolling the die and subtracting the number from the creature’s athletics check. If this causes their grapple to fail, they then take damage equal to the Psionic Energy Dice Roll of the weapon’s damage type. If they successfully grapple the weapon, it ceases being animated.
This is terrible and demonstrates a general lack of understanding of the basic framework of D&D 5e as well as general game balance. I shall elaborate.
Weapon proficiencies: Simple weapons fine. Why the hand crossbow? It's tossed in there completely arbitrarily and doesn't even have the excuse of a thematic reason for being there.
Psychic Defenses: You're ignoring dexterity and arbitrarily raising the baseline instead. This is not how armor class is calculated. Period. AC and how it's determined is a basic, foundational element of the game and you're ignoring that. It would be simpler to just use a variant of the Unarmored Defense that Monks and Barbarians get (which is a bonus to AC, not a change of how it's calculated in the first place) using intelligence instead of wisdom or constitution, but you're clearly trying to be original for the sake of being different while ignoring the basic elements of the game's core design. The fact that you clearly think this is a good idea shows that you are unqualified to assess anything for purposes of balance.
The psychic ranged attack attack isn't unbalanced but the way you word it makes me wonder if you've actually read any descriptions of how class features and spells are described.
Psionic Power: It's a completely separate system that is explicitly Not Majik that does not resemble any model of any class abilities in the game. It is also based on 2x proficiency bonus which means it scales at a rate different from anything else and is difficult to factor for balance. If anything I'd say it's weak compared to just following the rate at which monks get Ki Points or Sorcerers get Sorcery Points. This further demonstrates your lack of familiarity with game balance.
Psychic Communication: You're taking an existing feature from something else (GOO Warlock), which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Then you're adding an unstable possible increase to it's range. That's unreliable and superfluous at best, and also makes it difficult to factor the ability's usefulness for purposes of class balance.
Psionic Strike: Surprisingly, this actually isn't bad.
Mind Grapple: Where do I start? First, it's horribly worded. Second, you're imposing a penalty on a saving throw in a way that is simply not done in the entire game system. If I'm reading it correctly, at least, which I can't be sure of. This is not fresh and creative, it's straight up busted. Also, grapples are opposed by the target's choice of Athletics or Acrobatics, not saving throws. A hold spell is checked against a saving throw and inflicts the Paralyzed condition, which is completely different from Grappled. Yes, the difference matters, and that doesn't even consider that you're mixing two different well established mechanics.
Subclass...
Proficiencies: That's an entire martial core class worth of armor and weapon proficiencies (Ranger) tacked onto a subclass. No way. It also renders either itself or your Psychic Defenses pointless; I've already stated that the latter is just plain wrong, but this other equally ridiculous addition that contradicts the previous ridiculous addition goes to demonstrate your lack of either knowledge or regard for balance and even logical design.
Blade Puppetry: First, you're making a weapon sort of like a creature by giving it AC and HP that are not what a weapon should have to begin with (there are already rules for that, as an object, but you are clearly either unaware of this or you don't care). Then you give it damage immunities but don't even address how it can be targeted (as a creature or an object) and by what (attacks, spells, and other abilities; again this is something that matters, a lot. Assuming there is any validity to this entire idea (a point that I emphatically do not concede) you don't mention how any effects targeting the weapon requiring saving throws would be resolved. "I cast charm person on the axe." Now what?
Next you're allowing melee attacks without actually being in melee with a weapon. At best this is overcomplicated in the description and approach, mainly from all the issues I just brought up. Then you give attacks as a bonus action as if that's an extra attack as per two weapon fighting but with a single weapon which is Not How That Works aside from once again being worded in a way that makes me wonder if you've read any class description entry in the Player's Handbook.
Weapons do not get grappled, and grappling does not involve saving throws. Expending a resource to penalize the saving throw that shouldn't even be occurring is in line with the Bard's Cutting Words feature, fine. Additionally dealing damage is an extra effect and unbalanced without expending further resources.
===
Compare your entire poorly worded description of a subclass that doesn't even consider game balance or making an attempt at resembling anything else actually pre-existing in the system to the primary feature of my Brain Puncher subclass, combined with the ability to shove and grapple as per the existing rules for such using mage hand that I gave to the core Psion class I recommended. Mine boils down to "Monk unarmed strikes at range" but is not only formatted in a way that makes sense and is easily understandable and is also fully explained without adding completely new and confusing (not to mention incomplete) mechanics that do not exist in the system. And the Brain Puncher's abilities are not only easier to understand and easily compared to existing features for the purpose of gauging mechanical balance but they're actually better. At least I think they are, since it's hard to tell what yours are actually supposed to do.
It's poorly described, unnecessarily complicated and confusing, and if anything it's also underpowered.
There was, back in 5e's infancy, a famous Unearthed Arcana from before the days when Unearthed Arcana was nothing but a lame public taste test. In it, a game dev went over the process he'd use to homebrew a variant of the Ranger class for someone who loved the idea of being a highly skilled and trained wild survivalist but wasn't in love with being half druid. He replaced the ranger's spellcasting class feature with Maneuvers, from the Battlemaster, and showed his reasoning behind doing so and how he'd rough out the balance of it to try and make the ranger work at roughly the same level without any spellcasting.
The Spell-less Ranger, as it was known, remains one of the most enduringly popular "failed" UA builds. I've seen many folks ask for ways to play it here in DDB. People really like the idea, and while it's been less visible since Tasha hotpatched the base ranger, I still catch murmurs of it here and there.
This whole conversation on psychic abilities, classes are subclasses, every time it comes up, reminds me of the whole thing today. Including the people whose response to folks looking to try the Spell-less Ranger is "god, why are you such a f@#$ing idiot? Don't reinvent the wheel, don't break shit. Just reflavor your spells as being special Nature Man maneuvers or tools or shit. It's not f@#$ing hard, just cast the damn spell except describe it as something other than a spell. You f@#$ing moron."
Oddly enough, that advice never really seems to fly in Spell-less Ranger threads, either. Hm.
That example is still using an existing mechanic, swapped in place of a different mechanic. It's not trying to "reinvent the wheel" and that's why it makes sense. You keep ranting about "NO IT HAS TO BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT OR IT SUCKS JUST BECAUSE IT ISN'T SPECIAL AND DIFFERENT ENOUGH!"
You want different for the sake of being different? Look no further than that abominable butchering of game design that Transmorpher posted on this very page. I would love to see you attempt to defend that as a concept.
Wow, dude. You don't have to be rude and confrontational just to criticize something. This is a first pass on something where I'm trying to sort out a complicated idea. I know it's not absolutely perfect in the first draft, which is why I posted what I had worked on to get advice. So let me talk about a few things...
I added Hand Crossbow proficiency because I noticed that wizard, sorcerer, and bard all include some form of crossbow as a proficiency the classes get, none of which really have a hard and fast thematic reason to include. I mostly just included it because I thought the subclass might need some kind of larger range option.
You're right about Psychic Defense... I tried to use Draconic Sorcerer as the base... I felt like basing it on Unarmored Defense from Monk would be too good... I feel like this class shouldn't be able to reach 20 AC, since it's not really a traditional martial class like Monk or Barbarian. But I'm definitely altering it to be 13+DEX
The psychic Ranged attack is quite literally copied word-for-word from the Sun Soul monk's Radiant Sun Bolt feature, with the only changes being the damage type and tying the damage die to Psionic Energy Dice instead of Martial Arts Die. I liked it because it was a good way to give the class a ranged attack that wasn't a cantrip, but which didn't need a lot of new rules written for it since it still qualifies as an Attack.
Psionic Power is copied from Psi Warrior Fighter and even has the same name as that feature. The only change I made was the detail of using Hit Dice, since that seemed like a fun concept but I knew it wouldn't work to just treat Hit Dice as your primary class resource.
Psychic Communication is 100% lifted from GOOlock. Since I copied the Psionic Power feature with the Psionic Energy Dice, I've been trying to look for ways to use the roll of the die in features of the class, which is partly why I have a lot of abilities that try to use them in ways that are kind of inconsequential or hard to explain. It feels weird to me to have a Die involved as a resource and not use the actual die roll in some way.
Psionic Strike is also lifted from Psi Warrior Fighter.
Mind Grapple was inspired mostly by a Monk's Stunning Strike... I wanted a condition related to it that wasn't quite so crippling, since it's a lower level feature. I was looking at the Grappled Condition and noticed that the wording of the condition itself doesn't state that the player doesn't need to be the one grappling the creature... it just needs a "grappling effect". This felt like a nice sort of middleground... a grappled creature can still take actions, and there are ways to break a grapple that allow for some creative play. That said, I do think now that it would make the process simpler to just have the feature reduce a target's speed to Zero, since that's the main thing I really want this feature to accomplish.
For the subclass concept, this is meant to be the "Martial" version of this class, hence why all the armor is only in this subclass. I used Valor Bard as the base, since it also gets Medium Armor, Shields, and Martial Weapons. I do agree it does make Psychic Defenses useless... I'm thinking now it would make more sense to just add the Martial Weapon proficiency and give some kind of boost to Psychic Defenses... would it make more sense to just give an additional +2 to Psychic Defenses? Maybe it would be better to have it change Psychic Defenses to basically Unarmed Defense, but with INT instead of WIS...
As for the animated weapon... I'm trying to accomplish a very specific fantasy with this idea, with a telekinetic warrior with a magic flying sword. I based it on the Artillerist Artificer's Eldritch Cannon, since I didn't want it to be considered a creature. I'm sorry that I didn't perfectly include all the information related to that concept, but the intent is for it to be an object that is immune to all conditions.
The ability to attack with the weapon in melee was based on the Echo Knight Fighter, which has a similar mechanic allowing you to attack as if you were in a different point than where your character is standing. The detail of the bonus action attack with a light weapon was one I wasn't sure of... I had considered treating it just like two-weapon fighting, but I also liked the idea that it could be used on turns where you're not using the attack action to still output damage. I think that detail would need either rebalancing or playtesting of some kind, but it wasn't born out of complete ignorance.
I think grappling is probably the wrong mechanic to apply to this feature, so I would actually like advice on how to resolve that. But I just know that if this subclass existed, the obvious question that will come up with any table where someone is playing this subclass would be, "But what if someone grabs the sword?". There need to be rules of some kind in place to resolve that... whether it's just something that cannot be done, or if there needs to be something in place ahead of time to resolve that particular conflict.
So uh... thanks for an in-depth review. It honestly did help me to find some flaws in this concept that, I remind you, is a work in progress first draft. I'm honestly insulted that you seem to think your deliberately sarcastic "Brain Puncher" subclass that you did a quick throwaway write-up for is automatically superior. I don't know why this particular thread has garnered such vitriol, and I especially don't see why you feel so comfortable insulting me and my intelligence just because I wrote an imperfect concept.
I agree that it's not exactly a master piece of game design, but you're being a right prick about someone's first draft, especially considering how many times you're just wrong. For example Psychic Defense works the same way as near any variation of natural armour, which WOTC has already changed the AC stat for with the Loxodon, so this is well within the scope of 5Es AC system. Then let's move to Mind Grapple, first Eloquence Bards Cutting Words, second several dozen features (usually restricted to monster but within 5Es system nonetheless) that cause a grapple with a saving throw. Last example I'm giving though certainly not the last I can is the subclass proficiencies, which are very comparable to several Cleric Subclasses.
So yeah in conclusion you're being an ass about a first draft and much of what you said is just plan wrong.
And how about since everyone wants something wholly new why not write it up as a new class instead of a subclass? Quit making references to other classes and sub classes. Make this stand all on its own.
Start at the base, the beginning and build from there. Don't work from the final product backwards.
Personally, I'm in the camp that Psionics should be treated as a form of magic... it's far too much work to uncouple it completely from magic. However, what I am interested in is exploring the idea of trying to accomplish a Psion class that doesn't innately rely on spellcasting. I don't think it can be done 100%... why come up with a new form of mind-reading when Detect Thoughts is right there and is only a second level spell?
I kept working on this, making some changes based on suggestions... a lot of cleaning up of confusing language, some more levels planned out. I'm not sure how I feel about Psionic Energy Dice as the primary class resource... I went for that rather than invent something of my own because it's already an existing mechanic in both Psi Warrior Fighter and Soulknife Rogue. Anyway, there's a certain amount of throw everything at the wall and see what sticks... I feel like I'm starting to get at fulfilling the bare minimum of the concept, but I'm not sure if this class would perform well in-game. I think I have a tendency to aim a bit low on the power scale for fear of just making an unbalanced wish fulfillment class. A lot of features are just taken from other classes, because I think it helps to narrow your focus a bit and making sure that the mechanics for a concept work within the framework of 5e.
The Psion
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8
Hit Points at first level: 8+ Your Constitution Modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + Your Constitution Modifier Per Psion level after the 1
Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Hand Crossbow
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
Languages: You know one additional language of your choice
You start with the following items, plus anything provided by your background
* (a) A Quarterstaff or (b) Any Simple Weapon
* (a) An Explorer’s Pack or (b) A Scholar’s Pack
Alternatively, you may start with 4d4 x 10 gp to buy your own equipment
Multiclassing
Ability Score Minimum: 13 Intelligence
Psychic Defenses
Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor, your AC equals 13+ your Dexterity modifier
Psionic Power
You Harbor a Wellspring of Psionic energy within yourself. This is represented by your Psionic Energy Dice, which are a d6. You have a number of dice equal to twice your Proficiency Bonus, and they fuel your psionic powers.
Some of your Psionic Powers expend the Psionic Energy Die, as specified in the Power’s description. If you have no available Psionic Energy Die, you can instead expend one use of your Hit Dice gained from This Class, rolling 1d8 instead of your Psionic Energy Dice size. You can’t use a power if it requires you to expend a die and you have no Psionic Energy Dice or Hit Dice. You Regain all your Psionic Energy Dice when you finish a Long Rest.
When you reach certain levels in this class, the size of your Psionic Energy Dice increases, at 5th level (d8), 11th level (d10), 17th level (d12)
Some of your Psionic Features require a target to make a saving throw to resist the feature’s effects. The Saving Throw DC is calculated as follows:
Psionic save DC = 8 + Your proficiency bonus + Your Intelligence Modifier
Psychic Force
You know the Mage Hand Cantrip. You can cast it without Verbal or Somatic components and you can make the spectral hand invisible. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
You gain a new attack option that you can use with the Attack Action. The special attack is a ranged spell attack with a range of 30 feet. You are proficient with it, and you add your Intelligence Modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage is Psychic and its damage die is equal to your Psionics Energy Dice.
Psychic Communication
You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You can expend one use of your Psionics Energy Dice, rolling it and increasing the range of your telepathy by 10x the number rolled, you also gain the ability to communicate your messages even if you don’t share a language with the creature you are contacting, but the creature must understand at least one language.
Psionic Manipulation
Starting at 2ndlevel, your mastery over your psionic powers increases.
Psionic Strike - when you take the Attack Action on your turn and hit a creature with an attack, you can expend one use of your Psionics Energy Dice, rolling it and dealing psychic damage to the target equal to the number you rolled.
Mind Grapple – As an action, you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice, rolling it and adding the number rolled to your Psionic Save DC as one creature Large or smaller of your choice within 60 feet of you must succeed on a Strength Saving throw. On a failure, its speed is reduced to Zero. The creature can attempt this Saving Throw again at the end of each of its turns, and the condition ends automatically if you use your Mind Grapple on a different target.
Psychic Studies: Kinetics
Those who study the art of Kinetics learn to utilize their psionic powers in combat to control their enemies and protect their allies. They specialize in honing their Telekinetic potential, performing feats of strength using only the power of their minds.
Bonus Proficiencies
When you specialize in Kinetics Studies at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with Martial Weapons, and Shields.
Blade Puppetry
As a bonus action, you can cause any weapon you are proficient with within 30 feet that is not being held or carried by any creature other than yourself that lacks the Two-Handed or Ammunition Property to animate under your control for 1 minute. While animated, the weapon becomes a magical object and has an AC equal to your Psionic Save DC and HP equal to 5 times your Psion level. The weapon also has a fly speed of 30 feet (hover), and is immune to poison and psychic damage and all conditions. If it is forced to make an ability check or a saving throw, treat all of its ability scores as 10 (+0). If the weapon’s HP is reduced to zero or if you choose to animate a different weapon, your weapon ceases to be animated, but is not destroyed.
While animated, when you take the attack action on your turn you can attack using the Animated weapon as though you were standing in its space. When attacking in this manner, you must use your Intelligence modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity modifier, for the attack and damage rolls.
If the animated weapon has the Light property, you can use a bonus action to make a weapon attack with it on your turn.
If the weapon has the thrown property, it can be thrown as part of any attacks made with it, but after hitting or missing its target it ceases to be animated.
If a creature attempts to grab the animated weapon, they must make a Strength Saving Throw. As a reaction to this attempt, you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice, rolling the die and adding the number to your Psionic Save DC for this Saving Throw. If this causes their attempt to fail, they then take damage equal to the Psionic Energy Dice Roll of the weapon’s damage type. If they successfully grab the weapon, it ceases being animated.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20.
If your DM allows the use of feats, you my instead take a feat.
Improved Telepathy
At 4th level, your skills with telepathy become more potent. As an action, select a number of creatures within 30 feet of yourself up to your Intelligence Modifier. For the next hour, you can communicate telepathically as long as you remain within 1 mile of each other. A creature can’t use this telepathy if it cannot speak any languages, and a creature can willingly end the telepathic connection at any time (no action required). You and the creature do not need to speak a common language to understand each other. You can use this ability once, and must finish a Long Rest before using it again. Alternatively, you can expend a use of your Psionic Energy Dice to use it again.
Extra Attack: Kinetic Feature
Starting at 5th level, you can attack twice instead of once when you take the attack action on your turn.
Defensive Blade: Kinetic Feature
When you reach 5th level, if a creature within 5 ft of a weapon animated by your Blade Puppetry feature is targeted by an attack, as a reaction you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice to make the animated weapon the target of the attack instead. Roll your Psionic Energy Die, and add the number rolled to the animated weapon’s AC until the end of the current turn.
Mental Expertise
At 6th level, choose two of your Skill Proficiencies that use your Charisma, Intelligence, or Wisdom modifier. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check that uses either of the chosen proficiencies.
Shielded Mind
Starting at 7th level, you become resistant to Psychic damage. In addition, you have advantage on any Saving Throw to resist being Charmed or Frightened, and your thoughts cannot be read by telepathy or other means unless you allow it.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 8th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20.
If your DM allows the use of feats, you my instead take a feat.
Blade Puppetmaster: Kinetic Feature
After reaching 9th level, when you use your Blade Puppetry feature, you can now animate 2 Weapons simultaneously, controlling both independently. Alternatively, you can instead animate a single weapon that has the Two-Handed or Ammunition property.
Mind Prisoner: Kinetic Feature
At 9th level, as a bonus action, you can move one creature held by your Mind Grapple 10 feet in any direction. Alternatively, you can expend one Psionic Energy Die, roll the die and move the creature a number of feet equal to 10 + 10x The Die Roll. If the creature collides with a solid object it stops moving and takes Bludgeoning Damage equal to your Die Roll. If it collides with another creature, the second creature must make a DEX saving throw. On a failure, both creatures stop moving and take damage equal to your Die Roll.
To Zadron: you clearly don't understand how AC works. The Loxodon race's Natural Armor feature is, as the name suggests, the result of permanent actual armor in the form of thick skin. They are explicitly always "wearing" the equivalent of studded leather. It does not stack with other armor for that purpose. Their base AC without the Natural Armor is still 10+ DEX. Just like everything else. A Psychic Defense should not be treated as actual physical armor and even if it were it would not supplant or otherwise remove Dex from the equation. That entire Psychic Defense "formula" is, as Transmorpher explains , an attempt to "eyeball" something by feel when he clearly still does not get how AC is supposed to be calculated.
To Transmorpher: Sorry if it's harsh, but I'm not going to tell you "good job, that's awesome" for writing up something that is terrible design and demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of how the system you're trying to improve upon works to begin with. Especially when your counterpoints further demonstrate exactly that. Game design is clearly not something you are good at.
Wizards, Sorcerers, and Bards get light crossbows because they're a basic, simple ranged weapon to give them something non-magical to use from the back rank. They do not get hand crossbows because those are martial weapons. Yes, there is a difference and it means something. Additionally, you already gave your class those light crossbows because they're included in "simple weapons," which your adding a martial weapon for the stated purpose of "I thought the subclass might need some kind of larger range option" clearly shows that you don't even know what is included in the proficiencies you listed. Also, hand crossbows do less damage than light ones, so the class already had a "larger range option" even though you obviously did not know that. Also, you gave that to the core class, not the subclass. Yes, that's something that matters, too, because it's extremely basic and you can't keep that straight.
This all demonstrates that you literally do not know what you are talking about and that is why I call the full amalgamation of random poorly worded junk an "abominable butchering of game design." I'm not even going to go into the rest of your "counterpoints" and further attempt to explain how basic game balancing works because I am certain it would be lost on you and a waste of my time.
As to my "sarcastic" material, I named it Brain Puncher because I found that amusing and couldn't think of anything else offhand to call it. Also it made me giggle to myself and I like corny crap. I did put actual thought into how to make it a viable and balanced subclass, though. I spent about a half hour coming up with it and while incomplete it's at least balanced enough to warrant testing because it uses established rules that can be compared and balanced and also just make freaking sense unlike your mashup of a half dozen separate instances of "sort of like this thing that already exists but I'm gonna make up some random stuff to tack on just so it's different" all mashed together.
Actually, Bards get Light Crossbow proficiency in addition to Simple Weapon proficiency. So it's nice to know that not knowing every individual detail is all you need to completely invalidate what someone is saying, since I can dismiss everything you say from now on.
It's cute how you think your whole, "Mage Hand, but with a dozen sloppy add ons" is viable and balanced and not a much bigger waste of time. I know what I'm doing isn't perfect, but at least I'm not embarrassing myself online by acting like I'm some kind of genius right after posting a bunch of sloppy half-written nonsense. I know I'm creating a bunch of sloppy nonsense, and I'm asking for feedback on what makes it work and what makes it too much of headache to be worth playing.
Still, it's nice to know you spent a whole half hour thinking about how to do "Radiant Sunbolt, but with a dozen extra steps tacked on just to be different". I think you need to come to terms with the fact hat you literally do not know what you are talking about.
Flush...we know that already. We've known ever since Tahsa's came out. Again, I don't want to be rude, but I genuinely don't know what you're trying to accomplish here.
The Four Elements monk's biggest problems are inherent to it's design, in that 1: it's a subclass that wants desperately to be a caster but hasn't been properly equipped to be one, and 2: their subclass features directly complete with their class features. While Tasha's took steps to alleviate that last problem, it's still going to suffer from them until we get to see what the 2024 redux has in store. If we use that model for a chassis, so long as it has an adequate breadth of options and their features aren't conflicting with each other, I think it could work pretty well.
Are we reading the same spell description? There is absolutely nothing in it that says a target that makes the save knows anything other than you are attempting to read it's thoughts. Yes, that happens regardless of the save but it gains absolutely zero other information about you. It also says nothing about any penalties to casting the spell on the same subject again. And there is nothing in the magic rules anywhere that says material components have to be pulled from a special receptacle immediately before casting a spell, only that you're able to have it in your hand at the time of casting. Nor is there anything about screaming verbal components; the only restriction listed in the rules is that they can't be spoken if the character is gagged or in an "area of silence." Speaking softly enough that someone would only notice if specifically paying attention to you in particular should suffice. If you've had to deal with all those restrictions it sounds to me your problem is with your DM adding a bunch of extra restrictions, not the actual spell itself.
I will grant that the target immediately knowing you're reading it's thoughts on a failed save is just stupid though, as even charm spells that actively alter mood and emotion don't alert the subject until the spell ends. Detect thoughts is an underwhelming spell in general, but that doesn't validate the straight up false things you're saying about it, even less your holding it up as a strawman for how all psychic related magic is terrible.
And it's worth noting that while things like dealing damage or enhancing mobility can be easily quantified, described, and mechanically balanced the same does not go for mind reading and mind influencing effects. It's a fuzzy subject to begin with, and common player expectations on what charm person should accomplish is a prime example.
As to using magic as the basis for Brane PoweRz, magic is a system that already exists and has balances for it built into the game. You want something that has similar effects as magic then it has to have the same balances. "But it isn't magic, so resistances don't apply! And you can only stop or cancel it's effects if you have Brane PoweRz too, but my disrupt action targets their brain so it can counter spells!" And "My Brain Puncher doesn't need spell components to use his powers so I should be able to do a brain boom that's the same as fireball but force damage while holding things with both hands or bound in a way that prevents every other class in the game from accomplishing jack squat!" A completely new and separate set of rules that is explicitly Not Magic is not going to happen.
By the same token, if you want something to be doable at will, it's going to have the same limitations as a cantrip. Fine, call it something else if you really want to, but it can not do anything that is demonstrably more than a cantrip unless it is a singular, core class ability and that means less other stuff you get. Something that scales directly proportional to class level at all is already more powerful than any spell and nearly any ability in the game. Aasimar bonus damage under their once per day transformation effects did but they nerfed the hell out of that with MMotM. I'm sure there are a few others but the only one immediately coming to mind is a Death Cleric's channel divinity and that requires somebody with medium armor and only one attack per round to be in melee (where they probably shouldn't be in the first place) and score a melee hit to be able to use so there are some not-insignificant challenges to it. And no, you're never going to convince anybody who knows what game balance actually is that a fifth level spell or a comparable effect at will is fair under any circumstance.
Verbal, somatic, and material components are explicitly tools and techniques used to focus one's mental capacity, faith, or force of will in a manner conducive to creating the desired effect and I don't see how Brane PoweRz should require any less focus than magic thematically, let alone mechanically. Material components that aren't specifically expensive can be substituted with a spellcasting focus. If the spell list specifically limits away most of the super flashy effects (mostly things like high power wizard and sorcerer destructo-spells) I'd have no objection to even using the same rules as Clerics where the character doesn't even have to be actively handling their focus as long as it's on their person. I don't remember much about psionics rules from 3.5 because I never actually used them but I'm pretty sure that they required a "psi crystal" or some similar focus to work even as part of an overly complicated separate Not Majik system. Power Word [x] spells would almost definitely be of at least one level lower than they all are if they had more than verbal components (well maybe not power word kill but ninth level spells in general are all ridiculous in one way or another, which is why you only get one per day). If you want Brane PoweRz that don't have the same restrictions as magic, you can not get comparable effects from them. Period.
Okay, I've been working on this concept on and off for a bit, but I've written up 3 levels as a sort of "proof of concept" for how I think a class like this could work. I based it partly on the existing Psychic classes, in that it relies on Psychic Energy Dice, but I changed a bit how they work. For these first 3 levels the only spell this class learns is Mage Hand, and I do ultimately think of its effects as being magical in nature, so spells and abilities that block magic would still work against them. But I tried to avoid having this be a spellcaster class, and I'm extremely open to suggestions, but I figured I had enough to show how I've been thinking about this...
The Psion
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8
Hit Points at first level: 8+ Your Constitution Modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + Your Constitution Modifier Per Psion level after the 1
Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Hand Crossbow
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
Languages: You know one additional language of your choice
Skills: Choose 2 from Animal Handling, Deception, History, Insight, Investigation, Perception
Starting Equipment
You start with the following items, plus anything provided by your background
* (a) A Quarterstaff or (b) Any Simple Weapon
* (a) An Explorer’s Pack or (b) A Scholar’s Pack
Alternatively, you may start with 4d4 x 10 gp to buy your own equipment
Multiclassing
Ability Score Minimum: 13 Intelligence
Psychic Defenses
Beginning at 1 level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 13+ your Intelligence modifier
Psionic Power
You Harbor a Wellspring of Psionic energy within yourself. This is represented by your Psionic Energy Dice, which are a d6. You have a number of dice equal to twice your Proficiency Bonus, and they fuel your psionic powers.
Some of your Psionic Powers expend the Psionic Energy Die, as specified in the Power’s description. If you have no available Psionic Energy Die, you can instead expend one use of your Hit Dice gained from This Class, rolling 1d8 instead of your Psionic Energy Dice size. You can’t use a power if it requires you to expend a die and you have no Psionic Energy Dice or Hit Dice. You Regain all your Psionic Energy Dice when you finish a Long Rest.
When you reach certain levels in this class, the size of your Psionic Energy Dice increases, at 5 level (d8), 11 level (d10), 17 level (d12)
Some of your Psionic Features require a target to make a saving throw to resist the feature’s effects. The Saving Throw DC is calculated as follows:
Psionic save DC = 8 + Your proficiency bonus + Your Intelligence Modifier
Psychic Force
You know the Mage Hand Cantrip. You can cast it without Verbal or Somatic components and you can make the spectral hand invisible. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
You gain a new attack option that you can use with the Attack Action. The special attack is a ranged spell attack with a range of 30 feet. You are proficient with it, and you add your Intelligence Modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage is Psychic and its damage die is equal to your Psionics Energy Dice.
Psychic Communication
You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You can expend one use of your Psionics Energy Dice, rolling it and increasing the range of your telepathy by 10x the number rolled, you also gain the ability to communicate your messages even if you don’t share a language with the creature you are contacting, but the creature must understand at least one language.
Psionic Manipulation
Starting at 2 level, your mastery over your psionic powers increases.
Psionic Strike - when you take the Attack Action on your turn and hit a creature with an attack, you can expend one use of your Psionics Energy Dice, rolling it and dealing psychic damage to the target equal to the number you rolled.
Mind Grapple – As an action, you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice, rolling it and subtracting the number rolled from the first saving throw of one creature of your choice within 60 feet of you, which must succeed on a Strength Saving throw, or become Grappled in their place by your psychic powers. The creature can attempt this Saving Throw again at the end of each of its turns, and the condition ends automatically if you use your Mind Grapple on a different target.
Psychic Studies: Kinetics
Those who study the art of Kinetics learn to utilize their psionic powers in combat to control their enemies and protect their allies. They specialize in honing their Telekinetic potential, performing feats of strength using only the power of their minds.
Bonus Proficiencies
When you specialize in Kinetics Studies at 3 level, you gain proficiency with Martial Weapons, Light Armor, Medium Armor, and Shields.
Blade Puppetry
As a bonus action, you can cause any weapon you are proficient with within 30 feet that is not being held or carried by any creature other than yourself that lacks the Two-Handed Property to animate under your control. While animated, the weapon has an AC equal to your Psionic Save DC and HP equal to 5 times your Psion level. The weapon also has a fly speed of 30 feet (hover), and is immune to poison and psychic damage.
While animated, when you take the attack action on your turn you can attack using the Animated weapon as though you were standing in its space. When attacking in this manner, you must use your Intelligence modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity modifier, for the attack and damage rolls.
If the animated weapon has the Light property, you can use a bonus action to attack with it.
If a creature attempts to grapple the animated weapon, they must make an athletics check versus your Psionic Save DC. As a reaction to this grapple attempt, you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice, rolling the die and subtracting the number from the creature’s athletics check. If this causes their grapple to fail, they then take damage equal to the Psionic Energy Dice Roll of the weapon’s damage type. If they successfully grapple the weapon, it ceases being animated.
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And any psychic version will be just as bad. Detect Thoughts isn't bad because of hostility to psi, it's bad because it was Broken Destroyer of Plots in previous editions and they nerfed it until it was no longer Broken Destroyer of Plots. Same for spells like Charm Person.
I like it as well. One thing is I found the wording of Mind Grapple a little hard to follow. I had to read it twice to understand what you meant. I don’t know if it would make more sense if, for Mind Grapple and the check to grapple the Blade Puppetry weapon, if you just added the roll of your Psi die to your save DC or contested check for blade puppetry. I see where you are going with it so maybe if it was worded differently it would make more sense.
But I really like it.
I do, however wonder if it would be just as well to make a mage hand -like class feature instead of casting a spell without components. I feel the same way for 4 Elements Monks too (their elemental disciplines should all be unique abilities instead of spells), so maybe I’m just biased.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Yeah, I'm not confident in the wording of that... I think I just wanted to make it clear that the boost from the Psychic Energy Dice only applies to the first Saving Throw, but not to subsequent saving throws. I think changing the wording so that the die roll is added to the Save DC might make it easier to read. I'll have to work on htat, but I think it's a good thing that the basic idea works, it's just not conveyed clearly.
My thoughts on the mage hand thing is that any class feature would probably function identically to Mage Hand, in the sense that for an always-on telekinetic ability to be balanced it would have to be roughly equivalent to Mage Hand to avoid being unbalanced, so you might as well just literally make it Mage Hand.
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Evocation Wizard and Careful Spell would like a word with you.
But everyone knows that's a whoops. Ultimately, I agree with you.
Just had a notion. Curious what people think.
There was, back in 5e's infancy, a famous Unearthed Arcana from before the days when Unearthed Arcana was nothing but a lame public taste test. In it, a game dev went over the process he'd use to homebrew a variant of the Ranger class for someone who loved the idea of being a highly skilled and trained wild survivalist but wasn't in love with being half druid. He replaced the ranger's spellcasting class feature with Maneuvers, from the Battlemaster, and showed his reasoning behind doing so and how he'd rough out the balance of it to try and make the ranger work at roughly the same level without any spellcasting.
The Spell-less Ranger, as it was known, remains one of the most enduringly popular "failed" UA builds. I've seen many folks ask for ways to play it here in DDB. People really like the idea, and while it's been less visible since Tasha hotpatched the base ranger, I still catch murmurs of it here and there.
This whole conversation on psychic abilities, classes are subclasses, every time it comes up, reminds me of the whole thing today. Including the people whose response to folks looking to try the Spell-less Ranger is "god, why are you such a f@#$ing idiot? Don't reinvent the wheel, don't break shit. Just reflavor your spells as being special Nature Man maneuvers or tools or shit. It's not f@#$ing hard, just cast the damn spell except describe it as something other than a spell. You f@#$ing moron."
Oddly enough, that advice never really seems to fly in Spell-less Ranger threads, either. Hm.
Please do not contact or message me.
This is terrible and demonstrates a general lack of understanding of the basic framework of D&D 5e as well as general game balance. I shall elaborate.
Weapon proficiencies: Simple weapons fine. Why the hand crossbow? It's tossed in there completely arbitrarily and doesn't even have the excuse of a thematic reason for being there.
Psychic Defenses: You're ignoring dexterity and arbitrarily raising the baseline instead. This is not how armor class is calculated. Period. AC and how it's determined is a basic, foundational element of the game and you're ignoring that. It would be simpler to just use a variant of the Unarmored Defense that Monks and Barbarians get (which is a bonus to AC, not a change of how it's calculated in the first place) using intelligence instead of wisdom or constitution, but you're clearly trying to be original for the sake of being different while ignoring the basic elements of the game's core design. The fact that you clearly think this is a good idea shows that you are unqualified to assess anything for purposes of balance.
The psychic ranged attack attack isn't unbalanced but the way you word it makes me wonder if you've actually read any descriptions of how class features and spells are described.
Psionic Power: It's a completely separate system that is explicitly Not Majik that does not resemble any model of any class abilities in the game. It is also based on 2x proficiency bonus which means it scales at a rate different from anything else and is difficult to factor for balance. If anything I'd say it's weak compared to just following the rate at which monks get Ki Points or Sorcerers get Sorcery Points. This further demonstrates your lack of familiarity with game balance.
Psychic Communication: You're taking an existing feature from something else (GOO Warlock), which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Then you're adding an unstable possible increase to it's range. That's unreliable and superfluous at best, and also makes it difficult to factor the ability's usefulness for purposes of class balance.
Psionic Strike: Surprisingly, this actually isn't bad.
Mind Grapple: Where do I start? First, it's horribly worded. Second, you're imposing a penalty on a saving throw in a way that is simply not done in the entire game system. If I'm reading it correctly, at least, which I can't be sure of. This is not fresh and creative, it's straight up busted. Also, grapples are opposed by the target's choice of Athletics or Acrobatics, not saving throws. A hold spell is checked against a saving throw and inflicts the Paralyzed condition, which is completely different from Grappled. Yes, the difference matters, and that doesn't even consider that you're mixing two different well established mechanics.
Subclass...
Proficiencies: That's an entire martial core class worth of armor and weapon proficiencies (Ranger) tacked onto a subclass. No way. It also renders either itself or your Psychic Defenses pointless; I've already stated that the latter is just plain wrong, but this other equally ridiculous addition that contradicts the previous ridiculous addition goes to demonstrate your lack of either knowledge or regard for balance and even logical design.
Blade Puppetry: First, you're making a weapon sort of like a creature by giving it AC and HP that are not what a weapon should have to begin with (there are already rules for that, as an object, but you are clearly either unaware of this or you don't care). Then you give it damage immunities but don't even address how it can be targeted (as a creature or an object) and by what (attacks, spells, and other abilities; again this is something that matters, a lot. Assuming there is any validity to this entire idea (a point that I emphatically do not concede) you don't mention how any effects targeting the weapon requiring saving throws would be resolved. "I cast charm person on the axe." Now what?
Next you're allowing melee attacks without actually being in melee with a weapon. At best this is overcomplicated in the description and approach, mainly from all the issues I just brought up. Then you give attacks as a bonus action as if that's an extra attack as per two weapon fighting but with a single weapon which is Not How That Works aside from once again being worded in a way that makes me wonder if you've read any class description entry in the Player's Handbook.
Weapons do not get grappled, and grappling does not involve saving throws. Expending a resource to penalize the saving throw that shouldn't even be occurring is in line with the Bard's Cutting Words feature, fine. Additionally dealing damage is an extra effect and unbalanced without expending further resources.
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Compare your entire poorly worded description of a subclass that doesn't even consider game balance or making an attempt at resembling anything else actually pre-existing in the system to the primary feature of my Brain Puncher subclass, combined with the ability to shove and grapple as per the existing rules for such using mage hand that I gave to the core Psion class I recommended. Mine boils down to "Monk unarmed strikes at range" but is not only formatted in a way that makes sense and is easily understandable and is also fully explained without adding completely new and confusing (not to mention incomplete) mechanics that do not exist in the system. And the Brain Puncher's abilities are not only easier to understand and easily compared to existing features for the purpose of gauging mechanical balance but they're actually better. At least I think they are, since it's hard to tell what yours are actually supposed to do.
It's poorly described, unnecessarily complicated and confusing, and if anything it's also underpowered.
That example is still using an existing mechanic, swapped in place of a different mechanic. It's not trying to "reinvent the wheel" and that's why it makes sense. You keep ranting about "NO IT HAS TO BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT OR IT SUCKS JUST BECAUSE IT ISN'T SPECIAL AND DIFFERENT ENOUGH!"
You want different for the sake of being different? Look no further than that abominable butchering of game design that Transmorpher posted on this very page. I would love to see you attempt to defend that as a concept.
Wow, dude. You don't have to be rude and confrontational just to criticize something. This is a first pass on something where I'm trying to sort out a complicated idea. I know it's not absolutely perfect in the first draft, which is why I posted what I had worked on to get advice. So let me talk about a few things...
I added Hand Crossbow proficiency because I noticed that wizard, sorcerer, and bard all include some form of crossbow as a proficiency the classes get, none of which really have a hard and fast thematic reason to include. I mostly just included it because I thought the subclass might need some kind of larger range option.
You're right about Psychic Defense... I tried to use Draconic Sorcerer as the base... I felt like basing it on Unarmored Defense from Monk would be too good... I feel like this class shouldn't be able to reach 20 AC, since it's not really a traditional martial class like Monk or Barbarian. But I'm definitely altering it to be 13+DEX
The psychic Ranged attack is quite literally copied word-for-word from the Sun Soul monk's Radiant Sun Bolt feature, with the only changes being the damage type and tying the damage die to Psionic Energy Dice instead of Martial Arts Die. I liked it because it was a good way to give the class a ranged attack that wasn't a cantrip, but which didn't need a lot of new rules written for it since it still qualifies as an Attack.
Psionic Power is copied from Psi Warrior Fighter and even has the same name as that feature. The only change I made was the detail of using Hit Dice, since that seemed like a fun concept but I knew it wouldn't work to just treat Hit Dice as your primary class resource.
Psychic Communication is 100% lifted from GOOlock. Since I copied the Psionic Power feature with the Psionic Energy Dice, I've been trying to look for ways to use the roll of the die in features of the class, which is partly why I have a lot of abilities that try to use them in ways that are kind of inconsequential or hard to explain. It feels weird to me to have a Die involved as a resource and not use the actual die roll in some way.
Psionic Strike is also lifted from Psi Warrior Fighter.
Mind Grapple was inspired mostly by a Monk's Stunning Strike... I wanted a condition related to it that wasn't quite so crippling, since it's a lower level feature. I was looking at the Grappled Condition and noticed that the wording of the condition itself doesn't state that the player doesn't need to be the one grappling the creature... it just needs a "grappling effect". This felt like a nice sort of middleground... a grappled creature can still take actions, and there are ways to break a grapple that allow for some creative play. That said, I do think now that it would make the process simpler to just have the feature reduce a target's speed to Zero, since that's the main thing I really want this feature to accomplish.
For the subclass concept, this is meant to be the "Martial" version of this class, hence why all the armor is only in this subclass. I used Valor Bard as the base, since it also gets Medium Armor, Shields, and Martial Weapons. I do agree it does make Psychic Defenses useless... I'm thinking now it would make more sense to just add the Martial Weapon proficiency and give some kind of boost to Psychic Defenses... would it make more sense to just give an additional +2 to Psychic Defenses? Maybe it would be better to have it change Psychic Defenses to basically Unarmed Defense, but with INT instead of WIS...
As for the animated weapon... I'm trying to accomplish a very specific fantasy with this idea, with a telekinetic warrior with a magic flying sword. I based it on the Artillerist Artificer's Eldritch Cannon, since I didn't want it to be considered a creature. I'm sorry that I didn't perfectly include all the information related to that concept, but the intent is for it to be an object that is immune to all conditions.
The ability to attack with the weapon in melee was based on the Echo Knight Fighter, which has a similar mechanic allowing you to attack as if you were in a different point than where your character is standing. The detail of the bonus action attack with a light weapon was one I wasn't sure of... I had considered treating it just like two-weapon fighting, but I also liked the idea that it could be used on turns where you're not using the attack action to still output damage. I think that detail would need either rebalancing or playtesting of some kind, but it wasn't born out of complete ignorance.
I think grappling is probably the wrong mechanic to apply to this feature, so I would actually like advice on how to resolve that. But I just know that if this subclass existed, the obvious question that will come up with any table where someone is playing this subclass would be, "But what if someone grabs the sword?". There need to be rules of some kind in place to resolve that... whether it's just something that cannot be done, or if there needs to be something in place ahead of time to resolve that particular conflict.
So uh... thanks for an in-depth review. It honestly did help me to find some flaws in this concept that, I remind you, is a work in progress first draft. I'm honestly insulted that you seem to think your deliberately sarcastic "Brain Puncher" subclass that you did a quick throwaway write-up for is automatically superior. I don't know why this particular thread has garnered such vitriol, and I especially don't see why you feel so comfortable insulting me and my intelligence just because I wrote an imperfect concept.
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I agree that it's not exactly a master piece of game design, but you're being a right prick about someone's first draft, especially considering how many times you're just wrong. For example Psychic Defense works the same way as near any variation of natural armour, which WOTC has already changed the AC stat for with the Loxodon, so this is well within the scope of 5Es AC system. Then let's move to Mind Grapple, first Eloquence Bards Cutting Words, second several dozen features (usually restricted to monster but within 5Es system nonetheless) that cause a grapple with a saving throw. Last example I'm giving though certainly not the last I can is the subclass proficiencies, which are very comparable to several Cleric Subclasses.
So yeah in conclusion you're being an ass about a first draft and much of what you said is just plan wrong.
First off no one should be calling anything like "a magic effect" the people who want something new and different do not like it.
Clearly write out the psionic power exactly how you want it to act with no reference to magic.
Lets see how far this gets.
And how about since everyone wants something wholly new why not write it up as a new class instead of a subclass? Quit making references to other classes and sub classes. Make this stand all on its own.
Start at the base, the beginning and build from there. Don't work from the final product backwards.
Personally, I'm in the camp that Psionics should be treated as a form of magic... it's far too much work to uncouple it completely from magic. However, what I am interested in is exploring the idea of trying to accomplish a Psion class that doesn't innately rely on spellcasting. I don't think it can be done 100%... why come up with a new form of mind-reading when Detect Thoughts is right there and is only a second level spell?
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Instead of detect thoughts how about a scaling psionic ability(spell)?
The base ability is Telepathy.
At first level you get the base ability 'detect mind' That is all it does, it detects minds, animal, vegetable, or mineral.
At second level you can detect what kind of mind.
At third you get an idea of relative intelligence.
At forth you get the ability to detect their emotions and so on.
Something like that for each level advancement. Add in anything, this is just an outline for an example of how things could be written up.
I kept working on this, making some changes based on suggestions... a lot of cleaning up of confusing language, some more levels planned out. I'm not sure how I feel about Psionic Energy Dice as the primary class resource... I went for that rather than invent something of my own because it's already an existing mechanic in both Psi Warrior Fighter and Soulknife Rogue. Anyway, there's a certain amount of throw everything at the wall and see what sticks... I feel like I'm starting to get at fulfilling the bare minimum of the concept, but I'm not sure if this class would perform well in-game. I think I have a tendency to aim a bit low on the power scale for fear of just making an unbalanced wish fulfillment class. A lot of features are just taken from other classes, because I think it helps to narrow your focus a bit and making sure that the mechanics for a concept work within the framework of 5e.
The Psion
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8
Hit Points at first level: 8+ Your Constitution Modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + Your Constitution Modifier Per Psion level after the 1
Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Hand Crossbow
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
Languages: You know one additional language of your choice
Skills: Choose 2 from Animal Handling, Deception, History, Insight, Investigation, Perception
Starting Equipment
You start with the following items, plus anything provided by your background
* (a) A Quarterstaff or (b) Any Simple Weapon
* (a) An Explorer’s Pack or (b) A Scholar’s Pack
Alternatively, you may start with 4d4 x 10 gp to buy your own equipment
Multiclassing
Ability Score Minimum: 13 Intelligence
Psychic Defenses
Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor, your AC equals 13+ your Dexterity modifier
Psionic Power
You Harbor a Wellspring of Psionic energy within yourself. This is represented by your Psionic Energy Dice, which are a d6. You have a number of dice equal to twice your Proficiency Bonus, and they fuel your psionic powers.
Some of your Psionic Powers expend the Psionic Energy Die, as specified in the Power’s description. If you have no available Psionic Energy Die, you can instead expend one use of your Hit Dice gained from This Class, rolling 1d8 instead of your Psionic Energy Dice size. You can’t use a power if it requires you to expend a die and you have no Psionic Energy Dice or Hit Dice. You Regain all your Psionic Energy Dice when you finish a Long Rest.
When you reach certain levels in this class, the size of your Psionic Energy Dice increases, at 5th level (d8), 11th level (d10), 17th level (d12)
Some of your Psionic Features require a target to make a saving throw to resist the feature’s effects. The Saving Throw DC is calculated as follows:
Psionic save DC = 8 + Your proficiency bonus + Your Intelligence Modifier
Psychic Force
You know the Mage Hand Cantrip. You can cast it without Verbal or Somatic components and you can make the spectral hand invisible. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
You gain a new attack option that you can use with the Attack Action. The special attack is a ranged spell attack with a range of 30 feet. You are proficient with it, and you add your Intelligence Modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage is Psychic and its damage die is equal to your Psionics Energy Dice.
Psychic Communication
You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You can expend one use of your Psionics Energy Dice, rolling it and increasing the range of your telepathy by 10x the number rolled, you also gain the ability to communicate your messages even if you don’t share a language with the creature you are contacting, but the creature must understand at least one language.
Psionic Manipulation
Starting at 2ndlevel, your mastery over your psionic powers increases.
Psionic Strike - when you take the Attack Action on your turn and hit a creature with an attack, you can expend one use of your Psionics Energy Dice, rolling it and dealing psychic damage to the target equal to the number you rolled.
Mind Grapple – As an action, you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice, rolling it and adding the number rolled to your Psionic Save DC as one creature Large or smaller of your choice within 60 feet of you must succeed on a Strength Saving throw. On a failure, its speed is reduced to Zero. The creature can attempt this Saving Throw again at the end of each of its turns, and the condition ends automatically if you use your Mind Grapple on a different target.
Psychic Studies: Kinetics
Those who study the art of Kinetics learn to utilize their psionic powers in combat to control their enemies and protect their allies. They specialize in honing their Telekinetic potential, performing feats of strength using only the power of their minds.
Bonus Proficiencies
When you specialize in Kinetics Studies at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with Martial Weapons, and Shields.
Blade Puppetry
As a bonus action, you can cause any weapon you are proficient with within 30 feet that is not being held or carried by any creature other than yourself that lacks the Two-Handed or Ammunition Property to animate under your control for 1 minute. While animated, the weapon becomes a magical object and has an AC equal to your Psionic Save DC and HP equal to 5 times your Psion level. The weapon also has a fly speed of 30 feet (hover), and is immune to poison and psychic damage and all conditions. If it is forced to make an ability check or a saving throw, treat all of its ability scores as 10 (+0). If the weapon’s HP is reduced to zero or if you choose to animate a different weapon, your weapon ceases to be animated, but is not destroyed.
While animated, when you take the attack action on your turn you can attack using the Animated weapon as though you were standing in its space. When attacking in this manner, you must use your Intelligence modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity modifier, for the attack and damage rolls.
If the animated weapon has the Light property, you can use a bonus action to make a weapon attack with it on your turn.
If the weapon has the thrown property, it can be thrown as part of any attacks made with it, but after hitting or missing its target it ceases to be animated.
If a creature attempts to grab the animated weapon, they must make a Strength Saving Throw. As a reaction to this attempt, you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice, rolling the die and adding the number to your Psionic Save DC for this Saving Throw. If this causes their attempt to fail, they then take damage equal to the Psionic Energy Dice Roll of the weapon’s damage type. If they successfully grab the weapon, it ceases being animated.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20.
If your DM allows the use of feats, you my instead take a feat.
Improved Telepathy
At 4th level, your skills with telepathy become more potent. As an action, select a number of creatures within 30 feet of yourself up to your Intelligence Modifier. For the next hour, you can communicate telepathically as long as you remain within 1 mile of each other. A creature can’t use this telepathy if it cannot speak any languages, and a creature can willingly end the telepathic connection at any time (no action required). You and the creature do not need to speak a common language to understand each other. You can use this ability once, and must finish a Long Rest before using it again. Alternatively, you can expend a use of your Psionic Energy Dice to use it again.
Extra Attack: Kinetic Feature
Starting at 5th level, you can attack twice instead of once when you take the attack action on your turn.
Defensive Blade: Kinetic Feature
When you reach 5th level, if a creature within 5 ft of a weapon animated by your Blade Puppetry feature is targeted by an attack, as a reaction you can expend one use of your Psionic Energy Dice to make the animated weapon the target of the attack instead. Roll your Psionic Energy Die, and add the number rolled to the animated weapon’s AC until the end of the current turn.
Mental Expertise
At 6th level, choose two of your Skill Proficiencies that use your Charisma, Intelligence, or Wisdom modifier. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check that uses either of the chosen proficiencies.
Shielded Mind
Starting at 7th level, you become resistant to Psychic damage. In addition, you have advantage on any Saving Throw to resist being Charmed or Frightened, and your thoughts cannot be read by telepathy or other means unless you allow it.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 8th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20.
If your DM allows the use of feats, you my instead take a feat.
Blade Puppetmaster: Kinetic Feature
After reaching 9th level, when you use your Blade Puppetry feature, you can now animate 2 Weapons simultaneously, controlling both independently. Alternatively, you can instead animate a single weapon that has the Two-Handed or Ammunition property.
Mind Prisoner: Kinetic Feature
At 9th level, as a bonus action, you can move one creature held by your Mind Grapple 10 feet in any direction. Alternatively, you can expend one Psionic Energy Die, roll the die and move the creature a number of feet equal to 10 + 10x The Die Roll. If the creature collides with a solid object it stops moving and takes Bludgeoning Damage equal to your Die Roll. If it collides with another creature, the second creature must make a DEX saving throw. On a failure, both creatures stop moving and take damage equal to your Die Roll.
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Pyrotechnics could scale up.
At first level you could light a candle
Each subsequent level would gain more power or ability until you get to the big old fireball effect.
To Zadron: you clearly don't understand how AC works. The Loxodon race's Natural Armor feature is, as the name suggests, the result of permanent actual armor in the form of thick skin. They are explicitly always "wearing" the equivalent of studded leather. It does not stack with other armor for that purpose. Their base AC without the Natural Armor is still 10+ DEX. Just like everything else. A Psychic Defense should not be treated as actual physical armor and even if it were it would not supplant or otherwise remove Dex from the equation. That entire Psychic Defense "formula" is, as Transmorpher explains , an attempt to "eyeball" something by feel when he clearly still does not get how AC is supposed to be calculated.
To Transmorpher: Sorry if it's harsh, but I'm not going to tell you "good job, that's awesome" for writing up something that is terrible design and demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of how the system you're trying to improve upon works to begin with. Especially when your counterpoints further demonstrate exactly that. Game design is clearly not something you are good at.
Wizards, Sorcerers, and Bards get light crossbows because they're a basic, simple ranged weapon to give them something non-magical to use from the back rank. They do not get hand crossbows because those are martial weapons. Yes, there is a difference and it means something. Additionally, you already gave your class those light crossbows because they're included in "simple weapons," which your adding a martial weapon for the stated purpose of "I thought the subclass might need some kind of larger range option" clearly shows that you don't even know what is included in the proficiencies you listed. Also, hand crossbows do less damage than light ones, so the class already had a "larger range option" even though you obviously did not know that. Also, you gave that to the core class, not the subclass. Yes, that's something that matters, too, because it's extremely basic and you can't keep that straight.
This all demonstrates that you literally do not know what you are talking about and that is why I call the full amalgamation of random poorly worded junk an "abominable butchering of game design." I'm not even going to go into the rest of your "counterpoints" and further attempt to explain how basic game balancing works because I am certain it would be lost on you and a waste of my time.
As to my "sarcastic" material, I named it Brain Puncher because I found that amusing and couldn't think of anything else offhand to call it. Also it made me giggle to myself and I like corny crap. I did put actual thought into how to make it a viable and balanced subclass, though. I spent about a half hour coming up with it and while incomplete it's at least balanced enough to warrant testing because it uses established rules that can be compared and balanced and also just make freaking sense unlike your mashup of a half dozen separate instances of "sort of like this thing that already exists but I'm gonna make up some random stuff to tack on just so it's different" all mashed together.
Actually, Bards get Light Crossbow proficiency in addition to Simple Weapon proficiency. So it's nice to know that not knowing every individual detail is all you need to completely invalidate what someone is saying, since I can dismiss everything you say from now on.
It's cute how you think your whole, "Mage Hand, but with a dozen sloppy add ons" is viable and balanced and not a much bigger waste of time. I know what I'm doing isn't perfect, but at least I'm not embarrassing myself online by acting like I'm some kind of genius right after posting a bunch of sloppy half-written nonsense. I know I'm creating a bunch of sloppy nonsense, and I'm asking for feedback on what makes it work and what makes it too much of headache to be worth playing.
Still, it's nice to know you spent a whole half hour thinking about how to do "Radiant Sunbolt, but with a dozen extra steps tacked on just to be different". I think you need to come to terms with the fact hat you literally do not know what you are talking about.
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