I think the one part I do like, dice up dice down mechanic makes me think of psychics in movies. Use their powers too much and they get a brain bleed (or something similar). Very much, we are strong but we are inconsistent in our display of power. Even minds will eventually break under enough strain.
For the psi jump ability do you think increasing jump distance by your current dice size for minutes equal to your dice roll would be a better way to make the actual jump distance less variable?
Also I really like the psi dice mechanic and would love to see a full class built out of it too!
Would you also include the clause that the extra distance only counts for 1ft?
As it is that would give insane mobility for minimal risk making it a no brainer at the start of combat. If you did include that clause maybe limit it to one empowered jump per turn or something. It becomes a bit more overhead then though.
In all honesty you could probably just have it once per round and not roll the dice at all, just adding current dice size. That way it is always as powerful as you are when you use it but can't charge or lose power.
The thing I dislike the most about the die mechanic is that it makes psionics, which is a mental ability that you're supposed to be able to train and harness to your benefit, completely random, and never gets easier to control.
It does get “easier to control” based purely on the statistical probability of rolling bust getting lower, and the pool of good numbers getting bigger as you gain level.
Having had some time to think it over: I knew the Mystic has been dead for a long time, but seeing confirmation of it...man, it stings.
In regards to the Psionic Talent mechanic, at first I was still super salty about the Mystic, and I do think the mechanic is a little janky and could do with some cleaning...but that said, the more I think about it, the more I think I like it. Again, while it's a little jank, I like the way it gives an alternative to using spellcasting, which annoyed the everloving **** out of me when they started saying psi=spells that mostly already exist.
I think if they put a little more thought/polish into it, they might be able to make something that works pretty well, and maybe even work as a major mechanic for a class the same way spellcasting does for most of the casters. I'm terrified that WotC will just settle for subclasses, but if they can make a mechanic that can be widely applied the same way spellcasting has been used...I think that would be a really, really, *really* positive development for 5e.
As for the individual subclasses/feats, I think I'll need to take a closer look at those later. Super busy right now, unfortunately... >.<
The psionic fighter subclass is essentially a utility version of fighter. The extra damage is minimal at best since it is once per turn. The dice mechanic is just going to slow down sessions.all the rogue and sorcerer stuff can be done better by being clever with multiclass and the laziness of the game designers to not want to put decent effort into Mystic but wasted their time on Alchemist is appalling.
Is there a place where we can see the results of the surveys? Or do we just basically guess the results based on the next iteration of whatever they're playtesting?
the die seems like it would have been great for a redo of wild magic. the d100 table never felt right to me. for a psion it seems a bad fit though. having some randomness in the psionic powers is fine but a large part of most psionic stories is learning to better control your power and i'm not seeing a way to easily show control increasing as your level goes up. the mystic in structure was great for a psion. now the abilities themselves needed a lot of work. but it could have done okay but they would have needed to rework a few of the disciplines base abilities and removed or reworked an ability that cost psi from each. then they needed to make the psi point progression in line with a half casters rather than a full caster. then they might need to bump the core class features a little bit stronger and lock the majority of your disciplines to your subclass. but the structure of the disciplines and all the mechanics were sound.
having some randomness in the psionic powers is fine but a large part of most psionic stories is learning to better control your power and i'm not seeing a way to easily show control increasing as your level goes up.
The fact that the die increases in size inherently means that the probability of rolling bust decreases as the Psion gains level.
the die seems weird fit for psionics, there is no sense of progression in your control of your powers, they are making you keep track of ho many hours it has been since you used the sorceror's learn a spell feature, and mystic was mechanically alright just needed some hard tweaks for balance. also anyone find it odd that you can restore a disappeared dice to its starting size but since psi replenishment doesn't mention undoing the "it becomes unusable" part of the die disappearing you can't actually use it?
having some randomness in the psionic powers is fine but a large part of most psionic stories is learning to better control your power and i'm not seeing a way to easily show control increasing as your level goes up.
The fact that the die increases in size inherently means that the probability of rolling bust decreases as the Psion gains level.
Its rough because while mathematically that works the feeling it invokes is the opposite. Mechanically it makes sense but with the theme it feels backwards.
The Mystic was a hot mess mechanically, way to complicated. Like I said, the “sense of progression for control of powers” comes implicitly with the increased die size as you level. I do not believe that any “Full Psionicist” should be based off of any existing class like the sorcerer, it should be it’s own class, and once the die comes back why wouldn’t it be useable again?!?
the die seems weird fit for psionics, there is no sense of progression in your control of your powers, they are making you keep track of ho many hours it has been since you used the sorceror's learn a spell feature, and mystic was mechanically alright just needed some hard tweaks for balance. also anyone find it odd that you can restore a disappeared dice to its starting size but since psi replenishment doesn't mention undoing the "it becomes unusable" part of the die disappearing you can't actually use it?
Yeah they addressed this via Twitter already and it was supposed to also make the die usable again.
JC called some people applying to WotC for not paying attention to detail enough to write in the technical manner that they use but their team makes a lot of weird oversights and mistakes that people instantly catch when UA/Books are released.
having some randomness in the psionic powers is fine but a large part of most psionic stories is learning to better control your power and i'm not seeing a way to easily show control increasing as your level goes up.
The fact that the die increases in size inherently means that the probability of rolling bust decreases as the Psion gains level.
Its rough because while mathematically that works the feeling it invokes is the opposite. Mechanically it makes sense but with the theme it feels backwards.
But traditionally, you wanted to roll low as a Psionicist. It evokes the perfect feeling when considering the 2e Psionicist that they are trying to emulate. It only feels backwards compared to other 5e stuff, but when compared to everything from the past 5 editions, it’s actually spot on, mathematically sound, and brilliant in its design simplicity. And quite frankly, something a little “backwards compared to 5e” might be just what 5e needs to stay fresh. Ready-to-wear is great, but sometimes we need a little avant-garde. (Sorry, my wife has been binge watching Project Runway during this isolation.)
Like I said, the “sense of progression for control of powers” comes implicitly with the increased die size as you level.
Maybe if it were a choice on whether to take the benefit of the highest roll and not automatic. If you do, then your talent die decreases. If you choose not to take the max roll you only benefit as if you rolled a 1 without an increase in the talent die. Puts a bit more control in the players hands.
Admittedly a bit clunky. Just throwing some ideas around.
the die seems weird fit for psionics, there is no sense of progression in your control of your powers, they are making you keep track of ho many hours it has been since you used the sorceror's learn a spell feature, and mystic was mechanically alright just needed some hard tweaks for balance. also anyone find it odd that you can restore a disappeared dice to its starting size but since psi replenishment doesn't mention undoing the "it becomes unusable" part of the die disappearing you can't actually use it?
Yeah they addressed this via Twitter already and it was supposed to also make the die usable again.
JC called some people applying to WotC for not paying attention to detail enough to write in the technical manner that they use but their team makes a lot of weird oversights and mistakes that people instantly catch when UA/Books are released.
Overall they have some QA troubles.
Yeah, I figured this is because it's UA but the wording is super jank and confusing.
Also, this isn't part of the UA so it isn't worth spending a lot of time speculating on, but I could very easily see this being expanded with a point system similar to Monk/Sorcerer and using them to restore or increase the size of your psi dice (or perhaps fuel some other psi-based abilities, such as a conspicuously-missing Ego Whip?)
...I'm probably reading too much into this, but the more I look at it, the more I'm intrigued by things missing from the UA as I am by the things on it.
Like I said, the “sense of progression for control of powers” comes implicitly with the increased die size as you level.
Maybe if it were a choice on whether to take the benefit of the highest roll and not automatic. If you do, then your talent die decreases. If you choose not to take the max roll you only benefit as if you rolled a 1 without an increase in the talent die. Gives a bit more control in the players hands.
Admittedly a bit clunky. Just throwing some ideas around.
But then nobody would ever hit the max so the whole system falls apart.
Yeah, I figured this is because it's UA but the wording is super jank and confusing.
Also, this isn't part of the UA so it isn't worth spending a lot of time speculating on, but I could very easily see this being expanded with a point system similar to Monk/Sorcerer and using them to restore or increase the size of your psi dice (or perhaps fuel some other psi-based abilities, such as a conspicuously-missing Ego Whip?)
...I'm probably reading too much into this, but the more I look at it, the more I'm intrigued by things missing from the UA as I am by the things on it.
I didn’t fin it too confusing. I would love this expanded into a whole class. And it’s my suspicion that they nixed those spells to reuse the names for psionic abilities too.
Yeah, I'm hoping them testing this as a unifying mechanic can pave the way for a class that uses a more developed version, which is something dnd *really* needs I think.
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Agreed
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As it is that would give insane mobility for minimal risk making it a no brainer at the start of combat. If you did include that clause maybe limit it to one empowered jump per turn or something. It becomes a bit more overhead then though.
In all honesty you could probably just have it once per round and not roll the dice at all, just adding current dice size. That way it is always as powerful as you are when you use it but can't charge or lose power.
It does get “easier to control” based purely on the statistical probability of rolling bust getting lower, and the pool of good numbers getting bigger as you gain level.
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Having had some time to think it over: I knew the Mystic has been dead for a long time, but seeing confirmation of it...man, it stings.
In regards to the Psionic Talent mechanic, at first I was still super salty about the Mystic, and I do think the mechanic is a little janky and could do with some cleaning...but that said, the more I think about it, the more I think I like it. Again, while it's a little jank, I like the way it gives an alternative to using spellcasting, which annoyed the everloving **** out of me when they started saying psi=spells that mostly already exist.
I think if they put a little more thought/polish into it, they might be able to make something that works pretty well, and maybe even work as a major mechanic for a class the same way spellcasting does for most of the casters. I'm terrified that WotC will just settle for subclasses, but if they can make a mechanic that can be widely applied the same way spellcasting has been used...I think that would be a really, really, *really* positive development for 5e.
As for the individual subclasses/feats, I think I'll need to take a closer look at those later. Super busy right now, unfortunately... >.<
The psionic fighter subclass is essentially a utility version of fighter. The extra damage is minimal at best since it is once per turn. The dice mechanic is just going to slow down sessions.all the rogue and sorcerer stuff can be done better by being clever with multiclass and the laziness of the game designers to not want to put decent effort into Mystic but wasted their time on Alchemist is appalling.
I like this UA. The Psionic Die is cool.
The die seems pretty divisive...will be interesting to see what the survey comes out as.
Is there a place where we can see the results of the surveys? Or do we just basically guess the results based on the next iteration of whatever they're playtesting?
Partway through the quest for absolute truth.
the die seems like it would have been great for a redo of wild magic. the d100 table never felt right to me. for a psion it seems a bad fit though. having some randomness in the psionic powers is fine but a large part of most psionic stories is learning to better control your power and i'm not seeing a way to easily show control increasing as your level goes up. the mystic in structure was great for a psion. now the abilities themselves needed a lot of work. but it could have done okay but they would have needed to rework a few of the disciplines base abilities and removed or reworked an ability that cost psi from each. then they needed to make the psi point progression in line with a half casters rather than a full caster. then they might need to bump the core class features a little bit stronger and lock the majority of your disciplines to your subclass. but the structure of the disciplines and all the mechanics were sound.
The fact that the die increases in size inherently means that the probability of rolling bust decreases as the Psion gains level.
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the die seems weird fit for psionics, there is no sense of progression in your control of your powers, they are making you keep track of ho many hours it has been since you used the sorceror's learn a spell feature, and mystic was mechanically alright just needed some hard tweaks for balance. also anyone find it odd that you can restore a disappeared dice to its starting size but since psi replenishment doesn't mention undoing the "it becomes unusable" part of the die disappearing you can't actually use it?
Its rough because while mathematically that works the feeling it invokes is the opposite. Mechanically it makes sense but with the theme it feels backwards.
The Mystic was a hot mess mechanically, way to complicated. Like I said, the “sense of progression for control of powers” comes implicitly with the increased die size as you level. I do not believe that any “Full Psionicist” should be based off of any existing class like the sorcerer, it should be it’s own class, and once the die comes back why wouldn’t it be useable again?!?
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Yeah they addressed this via Twitter already and it was supposed to also make the die usable again.
JC called some people applying to WotC for not paying attention to detail enough to write in the technical manner that they use but their team makes a lot of weird oversights and mistakes that people instantly catch when UA/Books are released.
Overall they have some QA troubles.
But traditionally, you wanted to roll low as a Psionicist. It evokes the perfect feeling when considering the 2e Psionicist that they are trying to emulate. It only feels backwards compared to other 5e stuff, but when compared to everything from the past 5 editions, it’s actually spot on, mathematically sound, and brilliant in its design simplicity. And quite frankly, something a little “backwards compared to 5e” might be just what 5e needs to stay fresh. Ready-to-wear is great, but sometimes we need a little avant-garde. (Sorry, my wife has been binge watching Project Runway during this isolation.)
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Maybe if it were a choice on whether to take the benefit of the highest roll and not automatic. If you do, then your talent die decreases. If you choose not to take the max roll you only benefit as if you rolled a 1 without an increase in the talent die. Puts a bit more control in the players hands.
Admittedly a bit clunky. Just throwing some ideas around.
Some of my 5e homebrews on GM Binder for Dark Sun, Dark Sun Sub-classes. Feel free to message me with any questions, suggestions, or critiques.
Yeah, I figured this is because it's UA but the wording is super jank and confusing.
Also, this isn't part of the UA so it isn't worth spending a lot of time speculating on, but I could very easily see this being expanded with a point system similar to Monk/Sorcerer and using them to restore or increase the size of your psi dice (or perhaps fuel some other psi-based abilities, such as a conspicuously-missing Ego Whip?)
...I'm probably reading too much into this, but the more I look at it, the more I'm intrigued by things missing from the UA as I am by the things on it.
But then nobody would ever hit the max so the whole system falls apart.
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I didn’t fin it too confusing. I would love this expanded into a whole class. And it’s my suspicion that they nixed those spells to reuse the names for psionic abilities too.
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Yeah, I'm hoping them testing this as a unifying mechanic can pave the way for a class that uses a more developed version, which is something dnd *really* needs I think.