Pretty godawful savage nerf to anything that wasn't slaughtered altogether. The 'Psionic Talent' mechanic punishing you for rolling well feels jank as hell. I get that they were looking for a unifying mechanic, but this is a weird and unintuitive unifying mechanic. They destroyed the poor Aberrant Mind, no more psychic-modeled spells, and now you need to take two separate feats before you can gain any off-class benefit from psionic ability?
Feels bad. Feels really bad, like a severe Stop-Having-Fun-Guys edict. Which...means we're probably pretty close to the eventual release version of psionic abilities. Sadness.
Dice mechanic was great, though I think I preferred when the telekinetic/telepathic feats didn't have a prerequisite feature. Now you need to use two ASI's to get either and I liked the idea of anyone being able to add a nice dash of psionics to anything for flavor.
The psi die is cool, but I still really wish manifesting psionic powers were more mechanically distinct from spellcasting. For that, a psionic base class is really necessary.
Yeah, that part the Dice mechanic is a bit off, but the idea of using Dice similar to the Battle Master is not a terrible idea in my opinion.
My reasoning for liking the dice mechanic is that it fits thematically with psionics as a discipline that strives for balance or inner quiet. Like, you don't want to always cut loose because you can easily lose control.
I get that the fact that the player doesn't have much control over this might miff some people, but I like where the concept is coming from.
Yeah, that part the Dice mechanic is a bit off, but the idea of using Dice similar to the Battle Master is not a terrible idea in my opinion.
My reasoning for liking the dice mechanic is that it fits thematically with psionics as a discipline that strives for balance or inner quiet. Like, you don't want to always cut loose because you can easily lose control.
I get that the fact that the player doesn't have much control over this might miff some people, but I like where the concept is coming from.
Yeah, my issue was the lower is good/higher bad seemed counter intuitive given the rest of the game.
The psi die is cool, but I still really wish manifesting psionic powers were more mechanically distinct from spellcasting. For that, a psionic base class is really necessary.
I agree with you completely, but it very obvious at this point that we are not getting a new base class. We should focus on is trying to influence what we will get in a positive direction.
Nope. At that point you simply always add 1 to every roll you make until your die is a d12, then roll a d12 on everything. if you drop a level, take one roll at "gimme 1" and you're back to 12. Absolutely and irreparably breaks the thing.
I think the wild talent feat that grants you die should make your die 1 size larger if you have a class feature that grants a psychic die, so if your a variant human with the wild talent feat and a psychic sorcerer at level 1 have a d6 instead of a d4 as your base die. and have this continue all the way up as you level. I think this would show as a very strong psychic over the average strength psychic.
You're forgetting something. The die can only be increased to it's starting value for your level. So first level it'll only go up to a D6, 5th level (d8), 11th level (d10), and 17th level (d12)
I think the wild talent feat that grants you die should make your die 1 size larger if you have a class feature that grants a psychic die, so if your a variant human with the wild talent feat and a psychic sorcerer at level 1 have a d6 instead of a d4 as your base die. and have this continue all the way up as you level. I think this would show as a very strong psychic over the average strength psychic.
I could get behind that idea. It would not be as powerful as say Great Weapon Master or Sharp Shooter, but would be on par with War Caster, while still being basically Magic Initiate for Psionics.
"We’ve abandoned the Psionics wizard and the following spells: ego whip, id insinuation, mental barrier, psionic blast, psychic crush, and thought shield."
What happens to characters with deprecated psi options?
In 2017, we experimented with an unofficial character class—the mystic—focused on psionic powers. Through its features and subclasses, the mystic allowed you to create a character who echoed the abilities of other classes in the game but with a psionic twist. As much as many playtesters enjoyed the psionic themes in the mystic, feedback was also clear that the class encroached on other classes’ territory and that it was often too complex, too powerful, or both. Following that feedback, we’ve decided to say farewell to the mystic and explore other ways of giving players psi-themed powers, as we did with the features of the Great Old One warlock in the Player’s Handbook.
Well I guess that's that. They've officially abandoned the psion class, and are doubling down on spreading psionics thin. I'm not a huge psionics buff, so I'm kinda neutral on this, but I'm not sure if this is the right approach. I think the Psionic Talent concept is interesting, but it looks like Aberrant Mind is losing its origin list as usual, and Clockwork will probably follow. To be fair though, it does let you temporarily learn thematically appropriate spells in addition to your spells known, so we'll see.
Psi UA
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
I like it and this is really saying darksun setting to me with more stuff for eberron as well.
I like the Dice Mechanic, but I am still a little disappointed that they are continuing to use Spells and Spell Slots.
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
Wow. Harsh.
Pretty godawful savage nerf to anything that wasn't slaughtered altogether. The 'Psionic Talent' mechanic punishing you for rolling well feels jank as hell. I get that they were looking for a unifying mechanic, but this is a weird and unintuitive unifying mechanic. They destroyed the poor Aberrant Mind, no more psychic-modeled spells, and now you need to take two separate feats before you can gain any off-class benefit from psionic ability?
Feels bad. Feels really bad, like a severe Stop-Having-Fun-Guys edict. Which...means we're probably pretty close to the eventual release version of psionic abilities. Sadness.
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Dice mechanic was great, though I think I preferred when the telekinetic/telepathic feats didn't have a prerequisite feature. Now you need to use two ASI's to get either and I liked the idea of anyone being able to add a nice dash of psionics to anything for flavor.
Also two other thoughts:
1. Hoo that's a lot of Dark Sun references
2. Did they just canonize gem dragons for 5e??
Yeah, that part the Dice mechanic is a bit off, but the idea of using Dice similar to the Battle Master is not a terrible idea in my opinion.
I the that it should be reversed, roll a 1 = lower die, roll 6 = increase die
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
Gem dragons are already canon.
The psi die is cool, but I still really wish manifesting psionic powers were more mechanically distinct from spellcasting. For that, a psionic base class is really necessary.
My reasoning for liking the dice mechanic is that it fits thematically with psionics as a discipline that strives for balance or inner quiet. Like, you don't want to always cut loose because you can easily lose control.
I get that the fact that the player doesn't have much control over this might miff some people, but I like where the concept is coming from.
Yeah, my issue was the lower is good/higher bad seemed counter intuitive given the rest of the game.
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
I agree with you completely, but it very obvious at this point that we are not getting a new base class. We should focus on is trying to influence what we will get in a positive direction.
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
What if the player had a choice when using Psionic Talent die?
Roll the die and take what's rolled. No die change on a 1 or 6
or
Don't roll and take a 6 but the next time they want to use it, it's at a lower die
or
Don't roll and take a 1 and the next time it is at a higher die
Nope. At that point you simply always add 1 to every roll you make until your die is a d12, then roll a d12 on everything. if you drop a level, take one roll at "gimme 1" and you're back to 12. Absolutely and irreparably breaks the thing.
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Thinking of starting ANOTHER thread asking why Epic Boons haven't been implemented? Read this first to learn why you shouldn't!
I think the wild talent feat that grants you die should make your die 1 size larger if you have a class feature that grants a psychic die, so if your a variant human with the wild talent feat and a psychic sorcerer at level 1 have a d6 instead of a d4 as your base die. and have this continue all the way up as you level. I think this would show as a very strong psychic over the average strength psychic.
You're forgetting something. The die can only be increased to it's starting value for your level. So first level it'll only go up to a D6, 5th level (d8), 11th level (d10), and 17th level (d12)
I should have been more clear about that
I could get behind that idea. It would not be as powerful as say Great Weapon Master or Sharp Shooter, but would be on par with War Caster, while still being basically Magic Initiate for Psionics.
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
"We’ve abandoned the Psionics wizard and the following spells: ego whip, id insinuation, mental barrier, psionic blast, psychic crush, and thought shield."
What happens to characters with deprecated psi options?
Well I guess that's that. They've officially abandoned the psion class, and are doubling down on spreading psionics thin. I'm not a huge psionics buff, so I'm kinda neutral on this, but I'm not sure if this is the right approach. I think the Psionic Talent concept is interesting, but it looks like Aberrant Mind is losing its origin list as usual, and Clockwork will probably follow. To be fair though, it does let you temporarily learn thematically appropriate spells in addition to your spells known, so we'll see.
I think ultimately that they will have to do more Psionic "Spells" in order to really make the Sorcerer sub-class work.
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
As a side note, if they are going to focus on Psionic Sub-Classes I want a Psionic Monk Sub-Class.
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
I ******* hate this lazy piece of shit interpretation of Psionics.
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