Agreed, certainly one essential requirement is “ the will” that is the thought and decision to take the psionic action. Could it be entirely silent without gestures or material components - probably yes but (especially) for D&D it needs some sort of recognizable activation and visualization. The least restrictive is a verbal one hence “ the will and the word”. I’m happy to accept that effects that, via normal magic, require an expensive material component still need that component for a psionics casting - welcome to casting balance requirements.
The auto-silence is a new problem, not a solution. There's a reason V components are a thing beyond just tradition, and unlimited removal of them from all spells just creates other balance/gameplay issues. What they need to do is dial that to a third psion mode, and either broaden the PED restoration means or pool or alternatively give a few passive Disciplines and/or features that don't expend PED.
It's not a "new problem." Did you play a psion in 3.5? If anything the 5e version is toned down by needing somatic components still.
3.5 psionics did have Displays as a potential tell for some psionic powers, but the vast majority of NPCs in most settings still couldn't even tell you did something, let alone specifically what, and past the lowest levels (i.e. Tier 1), suppressing them entirely was basically automatic. And there was no way to counter powers either. So again, 5e psionics as presented here are even more noticeable/interactive.
I don't really care for the spell aspect of Psionics, since the class in 1e and Basic's Immortal set was pure mental powers. Psionics are the perfect fit for Science Fiction adventure.
The auto-silence is a new problem, not a solution. There's a reason V components are a thing beyond just tradition, and unlimited removal of them from all spells just creates other balance/gameplay issues. What they need to do is dial that to a third psion mode, and either broaden the PED restoration means or pool or alternatively give a few passive Disciplines and/or features that don't expend PED.
It's not a "new problem." Did you play a psion in 3.5? If anything the 5e version is toned down by needing somatic components still.
3.5 psionics did have Displays as a potential tell for some psionic powers, but the vast majority of NPCs in most settings still couldn't even tell you did something, let alone specifically what, and past the lowest levels (i.e. Tier 1), suppressing them entirely was basically automatic. And there was no way to counter powers either. So again, 5e psionics as presented here are even more noticeable/interactive.
I didn't mean "new to the game as a whole", but it is another problem with the current design. Spellcasting is deliberately designed to be obvious with few and limited ways to hide it. A core class feature completely eliminating the most obvious component throws that right out the window.
I would say that the primary requirement for a psion class is that you can squint and call a gith or illithid or similar supposedly trained creature a psion. Existing examples mostly have a rather small list of spells that they can cast without requiring components, so not using components is probably a requirement for a psion.
I didn't mean "new to the game as a whole", but it is another problem with the current design. Spellcasting is deliberately designed to be obvious with few and limited ways to hide it. A core class feature completely eliminating the most obvious component throws that right out the window.
Which is balanced by the reduced versatility of the classes that get such utility.
At the end of the day it's not a core class, so it's not like you should have much trouble banning it. Let those of us who like psionics as nonverbal casting have it.
I didn't mean "new to the game as a whole", but it is another problem with the current design. Spellcasting is deliberately designed to be obvious with few and limited ways to hide it. A core class feature completely eliminating the most obvious component throws that right out the window.
Which is balanced by the reduced versatility of the classes that get such utility.
At the end of the day it's not a core class, so it's not like you should have much trouble banning it. Let those of us who like psionics as nonverbal casting have it.
Or, alternatively, they could work off one of the pre-existing models for removing components from casting so you can still have your special moments when you're ready to commit to it, but a late tier 2+ Psion isn't trying to finagle a circumstance where peoples' backs are turned so they can cast Charm Person without anyone knowing in every social encounter.
Charm Person already has a tell after it's done. The NPC knows.
Honestly, at this point they could make the Build-A-Bear nostalgic Psion idea fully, code it into Beyond, & do everything asked except delete it, & there would still be calls to delete it, which would be translated in the feedback system as "Abandon:The feedback was too red"
This, along with the void of the rest of Valda's & Heliana's due to 3rd-party classes seemingly being a bother, rights & labor-wise, has even further convinced me that hiring more actual humans to work on & fix Beyond is the only way to get Hasbro to achieve their goals, but that would cause the stock price to hypothetically quiver too much, & would initially cost actual money, both of which are too expensive for BlackRock & The Vanguard Group to not pull their investment, apparently.
I do want Psion. I want a good Psion. But I know how the feedback system works as of now, & if there's too much "red" feedback, it'll be ditched like Mystic was pre-pandemic. So I know where the current discourse is going to end up unless people rethink their approach to the Psion as it is presented in this UA. Don't mark red or green. the middle is the better choice, & allows for suggestions on how to fix things.
& it is LEGIT tiring seeing ideas thrown away because of too much "red" feedback that doesn't give suggestions on how to fix it(RIP Glitchling...I wanted it to formally be on Beyond so I could make a Seven of Nine-esque character w/o resorting to homebrew...but it got murdered in feedback for some reason cooked up by Reddit/YouTube).
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DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
Charm Person already has a tell after it's done. The NPC knows.
Honestly, at this point they could make the Build-A-Bear nostalgic Psion idea fully, code it into Beyond, & do everything asked except delete it, & there would still be calls to delete it, which would be translated in the feedback system as "Abandon:The feedback was too red"
This, along with the void of the rest of Valda's & Heliana's due to 3rd-party classes seemingly being a bother, rights & labor-wise, has even further convinced me that hiring more actual humans to work on & fix Beyond is the only way to get Hasbro to achieve their goals, but that would cause the stock price to hypothetically quiver too much, & would initially cost actual money, both of which are too expensive for BlackRock & The Vanguard Group to not pull their investment, apparently.
I do want Psion. I want a good Psion. But I know how the feedback system works as of now, & if there's too much "red" feedback, it'll be ditched like Mystic was pre-pandemic. So I know where the current discourse is going to end up unless people rethink their approach to the Psion as it is presented in this UA. Don't mark red or green. the middle is the better choice, & allows for suggestions on how to fix things.
& it is LEGIT tiring seeing ideas thrown away because of too much "red" feedback that doesn't give suggestions on how to fix it(RIP Glitchling...I wanted it to formally be on Beyond so I could make a Seven of Nine-esque character w/o resorting to homebrew...but it got murdered in feedback for some reason cooked up by Reddit/YouTube).
Let's all just provide reasonable feedback when the survey is available.
I hope WOTC understands that the people who shout the loudest (usually negatively) are not necessarily a fair cross-section of people who have opinions, good or bad, of the UAs. So it's always good for as many people to fill in the survey as possible, even if you love it and don't want anything to change at all!
I admit, I don't often fill in the surveys myself, because I never get the chance to really play-test them. But I will try to get round to it in this case. I do like the idea of the Psion, and what's been done isn't bad, but I do have critiques :)
Again, there's a lot more people who participate in the surveys than who participate in the discussions here. Let's please stop pre-emptively implying that people who are critiquing the class here are the ones who are going to ruin the fun for everyone else. Frankly, I haven't even actually done one of the surveys since midway through the '24 PHB.
Yes, I think the current iteration of the Psion is a lopsided mess that's overspecialized in a few areas and critically short on resources in most others. I really am not convinced there's a good niche for yet another full caster, particularly given that most of the basics are already something several casters can do and as we're seeing it's hard to make a class that specializes in them well enough to be effective and interesting without skipping into outright overpowered. If I care enough to give that feedback in the survey, it's not going to mean anything unless several hundred if not thousand other people- the vast majority of whom haven't been participating in this discussion- share the same opinion.
I'm more worried about influencers & Reddit collectively inducing panic out of misinformation & disinformation based on their own interests again.
Call it whatever you want, it's not really a constructive talking point to pre-emptively point fingers and claim people are going to unfairly ruin your fun based on how they respond to the survey.
How is it worse than Warlock or Artificer? How is it worse than any martial?
I mean, I could just quote the spell list at you again but I don't think it's going to accomplish anything unless you truly appreciate what those spells, like, do. So we might just have to agree to disagree.
Like I said: I've played neither warlock nor artificer. I played in a campaign with an artificer, that seemed to work out just fine.
But if your line of reasoning is: All martials plus warlock and artificer is even worse than this psion class - then maybe at least I know where you're coming from.
To that I'd say: I have thus far, in something on the order of 40 years of playing, never seen casters outperform martials definitively and consistently in actual play. And even if that were true, and I agreed with you, it still doesn't address what I said:
This class - as far as I can see - doesn't do anything, at all, that another class doesn't do better. Psion can be built to melee, but melee classes do that much better. It can be built to cast spells, but all other casters do that much better. It can be sort of a bardish support thing, but bards do that much better.
Or I'm wrong. That possibility entirely exists. But a few super situational spells doesn't make a strong class. Not as far as I can see. A few support spells, a very few direct damage spells. Some abilities that cost ingame credits to use. I asked ChatGPT (because I do, about everything) and it was like 'this class is super bursty' and when I asked 'is it though?' it was like, 'yea, well, not really.'
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I'm more worried about influencers & Reddit collectively inducing panic out of misinformation & disinformation based on their own interests again.
Call it whatever you want, it's not really a constructive talking point to pre-emptively point fingers and claim people are going to unfairly ruin your fun based on how they respond to the survey.
Hence why, earlier, I called for a more constructive approach to these things in general. Less "No, burn it down & do it my/this person/editions'/peoples' way(s) or not al all" & more "here's some adjustments backed by my playtest that will help build this better"
Because I remember the kind of feedback they got during PEAK OGLgate, which, based on the sheer amounts of content dropped &/or abandoned in UA(The better 2024 Ranger, Glitchling, Fate Domain, etc.) that had feedback surveys during that time, indicates to me that if people are made angry by something in this fandom, they'll go out of their way to destroy it or take others from the fandom with vague promises of "more" & "justice" rather than fix what is, all because content creators & Reddit told them to..I also remember the pre-pandemic wars over the Mystic, which briefly resurfaced in the wake of this UA.
So I'm worried that another attempt to do psionics will die like the ones 2 different iterations of WotC tried before in 5e.
& I'm trying to head that off at the pass by encouraging divorcing external opinions, OtherStuffExisting & nostalgia from the whole matter, & encouraging people actually do more than run the numbers through Kobold Fight Club if they reasonably can.
So, in the most constructive way possible, yes, external influences are a problem with this & other UAs, & the best way to mitigate their inevitable influence is to make the choice as a fandom to divorce our actual playtesting from the influences of content creators, fandom hubs, Other Stuff that Exists, & nostalgia, in order to provide feedback in the Survey that's not just Green nor Red(in the survey's terms) so that this can be built back better rather than ditched & left to rot. Not just here, not just on community hubs, but in general.
It's almost like I'm suggesting people clear & expand their minds to awaken the power to do this better via discipline. Much like the flavor that's sorely needed w/the Psion as it is right now.
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DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
Like I said: I've played neither warlock nor artificer. I played in a campaign with an artificer, that seemed to work out just fine.
But if your line of reasoning is: All martials plus warlock and artificer is even worse than this psion class - then maybe at least I know where you're coming from.
"Even worse" implies I think those classes and Psion are bad. I don't. I'm trying to understand what basis you're using for the "subpar" judgment, because it doesn't seem to be rooted in logic or objectivity, just some kind of gut reaction to seeing spells you've seen elsewhere on the class list here.
This class - as far as I can see - doesn't do anything, at all, that another class doesn't do better.
There is only one other class that can cast without verbal and material components, and doing so heavily impacts their ammunition for the day. There is also only one other class that is an intelligence-based fullcaster. Those classes are not the same class. So here again is a statement that I don't see as having any basis in reality.
Ok. Seems to be an argument over power level on the Psion Class, let me see if I get this right.
Group A thinks it's OP because of it's natural Silent Casting, which is a core feature of the class and play style, and is very deep into the Lore of Psionics this has been a part of every iteration of a Psionic Class since the early 90s. It has never made them OP, their access to some of the most over powered Spells in the Game was the primary issue with past Psionic Classes. ie AD&D Detonate and Disintegrate.
Group B disagrees But thinks Martials are under powered. Will disagree with that idea, Wizard and Sorcerer are over powered at high levels, but lack the sustained output that a Martial has. A Warlock Multiclass Gish is probably the most powerful Martial build in any version of 5th Edition.
But is this version of the Psionic Class weak?
Yes and No. It does not have the peak explosive power of a Wizard or a Sorcerer. But does have some spells and abilities that can rival them at high level. But at the same time the Psion is by far the least defensive class in 5th edition D&D at this point, they are a Glass Canon, only their canon isn't canoning all that powerfully. Their Silent spell casting is about the only defense they get at level 1.
Now as a 40 year veteran of D&D, and being a hardcore Spell Blade player (I don't like calling them gish unless githyanki) I would start level 1 fighter, and then go fully into Psion because they need something better for defense than silent casting.
Now in Social Settings using the Silent casting can change the dynamic of some social encounters. But that is on the DM to balance, not the class. I think it is just fine as a silent caster. As a forever DM if I have a Psion in my players party, I'll just make sure the story has more psionic enemies. Maybe some Mindflayers and Intellect Devourers as Psionic classes are naturally weak to both.
As the class sits, I feel the lack of good Cantrips and the Shield spell are it's only negative, and the weakness and specificity of the spell lists make the class significantly under powered compared to a Wizard. Their one benefit of Silent Cast, and their ability to boost some spells are fun and flavorful and I would love to build something using this class. But unless it's in a crazy multiclass I do not see a pure Psion being all that powerful, but probably a lot of fun from level 4+.
I think people considering the UA psion weak might be overlooking the subclass features. This seems to be a class that sort of only provides the chassis and it's the subclasses that actually make the character.
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Agreed, certainly one essential requirement is “ the will” that is the thought and decision to take the psionic action. Could it be entirely silent without gestures or material components - probably yes but (especially) for D&D it needs some sort of recognizable activation and visualization. The least restrictive is a verbal one hence “ the will and the word”. I’m happy to accept that effects that, via normal magic, require an expensive material component still need that component for a psionics casting - welcome to casting balance requirements.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
It's not a "new problem." Did you play a psion in 3.5? If anything the 5e version is toned down by needing somatic components still.
3.5 psionics did have Displays as a potential tell for some psionic powers, but the vast majority of NPCs in most settings still couldn't even tell you did something, let alone specifically what, and past the lowest levels (i.e. Tier 1), suppressing them entirely was basically automatic. And there was no way to counter powers either. So again, 5e psionics as presented here are even more noticeable/interactive.
I don't really care for the spell aspect of Psionics, since the class in 1e and Basic's Immortal set was pure mental powers. Psionics are the perfect fit for Science Fiction adventure.
I didn't mean "new to the game as a whole", but it is another problem with the current design. Spellcasting is deliberately designed to be obvious with few and limited ways to hide it. A core class feature completely eliminating the most obvious component throws that right out the window.
I would say that the primary requirement for a psion class is that you can squint and call a gith or illithid or similar supposedly trained creature a psion. Existing examples mostly have a rather small list of spells that they can cast without requiring components, so not using components is probably a requirement for a psion.
Because they're so interested in verisimilitude between PC features and NPC blocks in this edition?
There are species with "psionics" too that follow the same pattern (no components.) It's not just a NPC block thing.
Which is balanced by the reduced versatility of the classes that get such utility.
At the end of the day it's not a core class, so it's not like you should have much trouble banning it. Let those of us who like psionics as nonverbal casting have it.
Or, alternatively, they could work off one of the pre-existing models for removing components from casting so you can still have your special moments when you're ready to commit to it, but a late tier 2+ Psion isn't trying to finagle a circumstance where peoples' backs are turned so they can cast Charm Person without anyone knowing in every social encounter.
Charm Person already has a tell after it's done. The NPC knows.
Honestly, at this point they could make the Build-A-Bear nostalgic Psion idea fully, code it into Beyond, & do everything asked except delete it, & there would still be calls to delete it, which would be translated in the feedback system as "Abandon:The feedback was too red"
This, along with the void of the rest of Valda's & Heliana's due to 3rd-party classes seemingly being a bother, rights & labor-wise, has even further convinced me that hiring more actual humans to work on & fix Beyond is the only way to get Hasbro to achieve their goals, but that would cause the stock price to hypothetically quiver too much, & would initially cost actual money, both of which are too expensive for BlackRock & The Vanguard Group to not pull their investment, apparently.
I do want Psion. I want a good Psion. But I know how the feedback system works as of now, & if there's too much "red" feedback, it'll be ditched like Mystic was pre-pandemic. So I know where the current discourse is going to end up unless people rethink their approach to the Psion as it is presented in this UA. Don't mark red or green. the middle is the better choice, & allows for suggestions on how to fix things.
& it is LEGIT tiring seeing ideas thrown away because of too much "red" feedback that doesn't give suggestions on how to fix it(RIP Glitchling...I wanted it to formally be on Beyond so I could make a Seven of Nine-esque character w/o resorting to homebrew...but it got murdered in feedback for some reason cooked up by Reddit/YouTube).
DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
Let's all just provide reasonable feedback when the survey is available.
I hope WOTC understands that the people who shout the loudest (usually negatively) are not necessarily a fair cross-section of people who have opinions, good or bad, of the UAs. So it's always good for as many people to fill in the survey as possible, even if you love it and don't want anything to change at all!
I admit, I don't often fill in the surveys myself, because I never get the chance to really play-test them. But I will try to get round to it in this case. I do like the idea of the Psion, and what's been done isn't bad, but I do have critiques :)
Again, there's a lot more people who participate in the surveys than who participate in the discussions here. Let's please stop pre-emptively implying that people who are critiquing the class here are the ones who are going to ruin the fun for everyone else. Frankly, I haven't even actually done one of the surveys since midway through the '24 PHB.
Yes, I think the current iteration of the Psion is a lopsided mess that's overspecialized in a few areas and critically short on resources in most others. I really am not convinced there's a good niche for yet another full caster, particularly given that most of the basics are already something several casters can do and as we're seeing it's hard to make a class that specializes in them well enough to be effective and interesting without skipping into outright overpowered. If I care enough to give that feedback in the survey, it's not going to mean anything unless several hundred if not thousand other people- the vast majority of whom haven't been participating in this discussion- share the same opinion.
That would be called "hiding." Or if they're really feeling fancy, "invisibility."
People here aren't the problem.
I'm more worried about influencers & Reddit collectively inducing panic out of misinformation & disinformation based on their own interests again.
DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
Call it whatever you want, it's not really a constructive talking point to pre-emptively point fingers and claim people are going to unfairly ruin your fun based on how they respond to the survey.
now I have got some question.
What if "charm person, psychic scream, power word kill/heal" needed verbal component? Or using the voice there is some bonus.
Like I said: I've played neither warlock nor artificer. I played in a campaign with an artificer, that seemed to work out just fine.
But if your line of reasoning is: All martials plus warlock and artificer is even worse than this psion class - then maybe at least I know where you're coming from.
To that I'd say: I have thus far, in something on the order of 40 years of playing, never seen casters outperform martials definitively and consistently in actual play. And even if that were true, and I agreed with you, it still doesn't address what I said:
This class - as far as I can see - doesn't do anything, at all, that another class doesn't do better. Psion can be built to melee, but melee classes do that much better. It can be built to cast spells, but all other casters do that much better. It can be sort of a bardish support thing, but bards do that much better.
Or I'm wrong. That possibility entirely exists. But a few super situational spells doesn't make a strong class. Not as far as I can see. A few support spells, a very few direct damage spells. Some abilities that cost ingame credits to use. I asked ChatGPT (because I do, about everything) and it was like 'this class is super bursty' and when I asked 'is it though?' it was like, 'yea, well, not really.'
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Hence why, earlier, I called for a more constructive approach to these things in general. Less "No, burn it down & do it my/this person/editions'/peoples' way(s) or not al all" & more "here's some adjustments backed by my playtest that will help build this better"
Because I remember the kind of feedback they got during PEAK OGLgate, which, based on the sheer amounts of content dropped &/or abandoned in UA(The better 2024 Ranger, Glitchling, Fate Domain, etc.) that had feedback surveys during that time, indicates to me that if people are made angry by something in this fandom, they'll go out of their way to destroy it or take others from the fandom with vague promises of "more" & "justice" rather than fix what is, all because content creators & Reddit told them to..I also remember the pre-pandemic wars over the Mystic, which briefly resurfaced in the wake of this UA.
So I'm worried that another attempt to do psionics will die like the ones 2 different iterations of WotC tried before in 5e.
& I'm trying to head that off at the pass by encouraging divorcing external opinions, OtherStuffExisting & nostalgia from the whole matter, & encouraging people actually do more than run the numbers through Kobold Fight Club if they reasonably can.
So, in the most constructive way possible, yes, external influences are a problem with this & other UAs, & the best way to mitigate their inevitable influence is to make the choice as a fandom to divorce our actual playtesting from the influences of content creators, fandom hubs, Other Stuff that Exists, & nostalgia, in order to provide feedback in the Survey that's not just Green nor Red(in the survey's terms) so that this can be built back better rather than ditched & left to rot. Not just here, not just on community hubs, but in general.
It's almost like I'm suggesting people clear & expand their minds to awaken the power to do this better via discipline. Much like the flavor that's sorely needed w/the Psion as it is right now.
DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
Why?
"Even worse" implies I think those classes and Psion are bad. I don't. I'm trying to understand what basis you're using for the "subpar" judgment, because it doesn't seem to be rooted in logic or objectivity, just some kind of gut reaction to seeing spells you've seen elsewhere on the class list here.
There is only one other class that can cast without verbal and material components, and doing so heavily impacts their ammunition for the day. There is also only one other class that is an intelligence-based fullcaster. Those classes are not the same class. So here again is a statement that I don't see as having any basis in reality.
Ok. Seems to be an argument over power level on the Psion Class, let me see if I get this right.
Group A thinks it's OP because of it's natural Silent Casting, which is a core feature of the class and play style, and is very deep into the Lore of Psionics this has been a part of every iteration of a Psionic Class since the early 90s. It has never made them OP, their access to some of the most over powered Spells in the Game was the primary issue with past Psionic Classes. ie AD&D Detonate and Disintegrate.
Group B disagrees But thinks Martials are under powered. Will disagree with that idea, Wizard and Sorcerer are over powered at high levels, but lack the sustained output that a Martial has. A Warlock Multiclass Gish is probably the most powerful Martial build in any version of 5th Edition.
But is this version of the Psionic Class weak?
Yes and No. It does not have the peak explosive power of a Wizard or a Sorcerer. But does have some spells and abilities that can rival them at high level. But at the same time the Psion is by far the least defensive class in 5th edition D&D at this point, they are a Glass Canon, only their canon isn't canoning all that powerfully. Their Silent spell casting is about the only defense they get at level 1.
Now as a 40 year veteran of D&D, and being a hardcore Spell Blade player (I don't like calling them gish unless githyanki) I would start level 1 fighter, and then go fully into Psion because they need something better for defense than silent casting.
Now in Social Settings using the Silent casting can change the dynamic of some social encounters. But that is on the DM to balance, not the class. I think it is just fine as a silent caster. As a forever DM if I have a Psion in my players party, I'll just make sure the story has more psionic enemies. Maybe some Mindflayers and Intellect Devourers as Psionic classes are naturally weak to both.
As the class sits, I feel the lack of good Cantrips and the Shield spell are it's only negative, and the weakness and specificity of the spell lists make the class significantly under powered compared to a Wizard. Their one benefit of Silent Cast, and their ability to boost some spells are fun and flavorful and I would love to build something using this class. But unless it's in a crazy multiclass I do not see a pure Psion being all that powerful, but probably a lot of fun from level 4+.
I think people considering the UA psion weak might be overlooking the subclass features. This seems to be a class that sort of only provides the chassis and it's the subclasses that actually make the character.