Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Amoris Dendidorm 06-06-07, 03:43 PM	Hello everyone, I'm a huge fan of D&D and the last few years Psionics got my attention more and more. So far that it became my favored book (XPH) and favored class (Psion). But Info is low and if you want something to be explained or discussed, you come to these boards. One of the things I enjoy about D&D is character creation and development, but the foremost is roleplaying. I recently stopped playing due to my group who almost played non to no roleplay and it became more and more a game of chess with dice. After eigth years of playing, there were maybe 3 characters worth remembering. Every character seemed to be the same as the one the player created before! And this got me to posting this thread. When I started looking at this section of the boards I got really enthusiastic, simple rules were explained and good guidence was given. More and more I see people asking what powers to choose, what's the best build, what feats should I give my Psicrystal, how can I (ab)use Psychic Reformation? Do you people still roleplay your character? Got any fond memories of a Psion/wilder/Psiwarrior/soulknife character of yours? Maybe you could share some of your experience with us!?! What's it like to be the baddest or the smartest of the bunch ? I don't mean to offend anyone and if I did I'm sorry! I just think it's a shame D&D is becoming more a game of numbers than a game of Role Playing over the years! If any class or book of classes has potential for RolePlaying it's Psionics! (IMHO)
Nifft 06-06-07, 03:54 PM	Do you people still roleplay your character? RP has nothing to do with Psionics. There's nothing special about a Psionic character (as opposed to any other "magical" character) when it comes to RP. So when I come here, to ask psionics-specific questions, they're not really related to RP'ing. RP questions would probably tend to go to the Character Development forum, no? Cheers, -- N
Tempest Stormwind 06-06-07, 03:54 PM	Short answer: Hell **** yeah. My favorite characters of all time have been psionic more often than not. Let's look at this another way. 1) These boards are a global community. People from everywhere come to discuss D&D. 2) In order for there to be discussion, there must be a common frame of reference. 3) Different groups RP at different levels -- some nonexistent, some utterly immersive. Even those who are somewhat similar on the RP level... do so in different styles. This makes it difficult to find a common frame of reference for gaming, since it's just a game style. 4) Everyone worldwide has access to the same rules. These rules are generally not subjective. 5) From 1, 2, and 3, discussing RP is difficult. 6) From 1, 2, and 4, discussing the rules is easy. 7) People tend to talk about what they know about. 8) From 5, 6, and 7, it's clear that rules discussions will be both more active and more common than RP discussions, even if RP is actually more prevalent worldwide. You'll see this trend hold on every D&D/d20 board, by the way, not just the psionics board. The only one that's an exception would be Character Development, since that's EXACTLY what its purpose is. D&D's still the same RPG it's always been, just with better rules. The forums do not adequately illustrate this due to the conclusions above.
hovnarr 06-06-07, 04:40 PM	Got any fond memories of a Psion/wilder/Psiwarrior/soulknife character of yours? My strongest memory of a psi character was an egoist that unfortunately had to end his career prematurely, due to the fact that it was an online campaign and the DM just up and left. Anyway, I thought a lot about making the most of (from an RP perspective) of the Empathic Transfer power and Metamorphosis. What makes a character take the suffering of other unto himself? From which nether depths does he draw inspiration to transform into monstrous forms? Maybe I got inspired by "The Exorcism of Emily Rose", but I decided he was a pawn in the scheme of good and evil planar entities. Much like the Hulk, he would transform into a monster as if possessed by a demonic entity when in combat (and who knows, maybe he was? enough plot hooks for the quitter DM to make something interesting at least). At other times, he heard the calling of good entities, urging him to take on the suffering of the world unto himself and Save it. I didn't get to play him for very long, but I'll never forget the effort I put into to give rp reasons to every single feat, skill point or power on his sheet. I usually create characters "backwards" like that - make the sheet first, and explain it in the background/concept afterwards.
InkBlot 06-06-07, 05:02 PM	People who like to roleplay usually don't need any help at it. People who don't like to roleplay aren't going to ask for help at it. So roleplay related questions are quite rare. However, there have been several big threads on roleplaying issues related to psionics. Most of these have to do with how psionic abilities are interpreted by the characters themselves, and what different varied things we can use the psionics rules to represent. The following threads are examples of this: Real World Mysticism In D&D Psionics (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=844786&highlight=real+world+mysticism): A thread highlighting the origins of much of the flavor of D&D psionics, expanding upon it with more examples from real world mysticism, and seeking to know how other people incorporate real-world mysticism into their games. Psionic Naruto Builds (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=589061&highlight=psionic+naruto+builds): How do you roleplay a character from the popular anime series Naruto, using the D&D psionics system? This thread was designed to answer that question. Truenaming Psionics (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=470229&highlight=truenaming+psionics): The psionics rules are balanced and flexible, but what if you didn't want to roleplay a master of the mind? This thread presents roleplaying options which reinterpret the psions as gnostic priests, explorers of dreams, demon possessed sorcerers, and more. Psionics In WOTC Novels (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=860797&highlight=truenaming+psionics): This thread explores roleplaying examples from Wizards Of The Coast's own D&D novels.
Ogg 06-06-07, 05:25 PM	S'linar's background... “I’ve got something to say, it’s better to burn out. Then fade away!”-Def Leppard/Kurigan The cold rain hissed as it came in contact with the flames from the shrine of the god of trickery. The reddish glint of the setting sun intermingles with the cloud fill sky to make a blood colored reflection strangely in tune with the events occurring below. The city was in chaos around it, clerics attempted to summon water to cascade upon the flames. Others threw like spells that they had happened to have prepared on the flames attempting to quell them. The flames were steadily going out, the rain helped, no doubt a summoned storm. The temple was already a husk though. Amid the panic if you took the time to single out random people among the hundreds you could find a couple mourning near the shrine. “Who would do this: Destroy a holy shrine?” from an old human his weeping face buried in the shoulder of a regal, yet sad looking elven woman. Tears ran down her face as well but her mouth was set stern. You would see tears down many of the faces there intermingled with the rain: tears from the heat, the smoke, the sadness. But what is this? A face singled out among the crowd without tears. His yellow tinted eyes, reflecting the flames with utter intensity equal to the flames. He stares unmoving while chaos swirls around him. His cloak, the gray color of the ash in the air, a shiny gem on his shoulder reflects the flames forming a small mirrored fire on his shoulder. The man has no weapons unlike many would in this town but he emanates danger regardless. As time goes on the flames eventually die out, he turns & leaves. His feet take him to the darker side of town, the underside, where desperation can be felt in the air. A beggar steps out of an alley suddenly and the figure in the grey cloak spins toward him, hand extended in an unnatural gesture fingers curled almost like fingers of a fires flame. The pauper gasps and extends his hands in supplication. “No, please m'lord. I just wanted to know if you could spare a copper. That’s all!” The figure mutters something guttural likening a “No” which appears close enough for the beggar’s interest as he turns & quickly retreats to his hovel. The grey cloaked figure then moves thru the street stopping in a parlor, its sign obviously indicating it specializes in tattooing art. The man knows much of the art & knows who’s good at it; this shop was not picked at random. He drops his cloak’s hood as he steps inside. The half-elf behind the counter is an oddity herself, quite pierced & tattooed, so she barely responds to the strange appearance of the man. His reddish blonde hair is cut in a Mohawk, as he removes his gloves a golden dragon tattoo can be seen on his left forearm. He looks at the woman & indicates he would like a phoenix tattoo added to his back, in the middle. They step into a back room. The crystal on his shoulder can hear his every thought. It shares his mind’s pain right now as he lays face down in the odd chair, making his journey back thru the events that led to tonight in his mind. He was but a simple farm boy the day the wizard came into the town. He marveled at the great light show the wizard put on. He swore that he would not die a farmer like his father before him & the next morning set off towards the city. Let his older sister, who had a love for rural ways, take over the family farm. It was not for him. He left a note not even bothering to say goodbye to his stern father. He knew his mother would at least understand, for had she not left herself a year ago unheard of since. The wizard guild would have nothing to do with him. Every task master already had too many students. Although they loved his intelligence, he was a farmer. He would have to be taught from scratch. Every one had a different excuse. He would have to wait a few months, perhaps years. He was young though, they would say, he had time. He grew desperate. He was now out of money & on the streets in a big city. He learned to take through stealth what he could. Then one day he met a man who led him to underground church of the god of trickery. There he learned of magic granted by the gods. Over the years he became an acolyte tending the shrines in town. He would never rise high in the church; he had simply accepted a lower role in life. But deep in his head, in his dreams he felt a burning, a power. He would awake & douse it in fasting & prayer. While he was tending the shrines one day he met her. She was wounded, lying in the shadows of the shrine. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever beheld. She was elven yet unlike most elves her skin absorbed the light instead of reflecting it. She showed him a wooden holy symbol to the deity & asked his help. He could hear the town guard making their way through the streets, questioning all about a thief. Suddenly, she grasped his robes pulling him close in a passionate kiss. He could feel a heat rising in him like never before. She pulled away & whispered in his ear promising much more if he would help her. He instantly led her to the pew with a hidden bottom. In which the church stored some of its most precious objects. Was this not the shrine of the god of trickery? There was plenty of room in it to hide her slim, perfect elven figure, which he did. He used his few simple spells to heal her wounds what little he could & provide a minor cloaking of her hiding place. He then quickly started cleaning the blood stains she had left as a trail. No sooner had he barely finished with this then the town guard charged into the area of the shrine. They questioned him fiercely, beating him about some. Eventually, after a quick search of the area they left him and moved on. That night he spent with the elven woman, hidden in his meager acolyte room. He finally fell asleep deep in the night, a man spent in the most wonderful night of passion he had ever experienced. He awaked, being dragged out of his room by the clerics of the temple. They dragged him, beat him & tied him to a wall. Several of the more experience clerics questioned him knowingly about the woman. She had robbed the temple & left during the night. He could not believe. Now broken mentally & physically he let them continue beating him. The woman he loved had used him & discarded him. He welcomed the death they were going to bring him. As his mind sunk lower suddenly it grabbed on to a flame of revenge that burned somewhere. Revenge mad at what the world had done, the cruel hand fate had dealt him time & time again. He felt this flame burn in his. Suddenly, fire erupted from his hands burning the cleric who held him. He fell screaming to the ground. The acolyte ran from the temple. The clerics followed at a distance but he kept running. They grew closer as they chased him into the night. How could he out trick the minions of trickery? He huddled in an alley awaiting his fate when suddenly the air shimmered around him. A strange man with flowing red hair nearly touching the ground appeared. He slowly turned in a circle as his eyes emanated a pale blue light which settled on the huddled man. A smile came to his lips. Suddenly a group of minions of the clerics rounded the corner. The red haired man raised his hands & an arc of flames erupted from them the pack of ruffians fell to the ground screaming & burning. The young man tasted the blood on his lips felt the smoke in the air. The heat of the flames warmed him in the cold night air. He looked into them & felt the power he had always felt deep within him. The magic from within his very soul. Not the petty magic’s of the universe around him pulled upon by the proper mystic rituals, nor the biased magic granted by gods but the inner magic that relied only on him. The only one he knew he could trust. “Come young one. Tonight is your night to be reborn” said the red haired man. He took his hand & in a shimmer of golden light. They were gone. He looked at himself in the mirror, studied his newest tattoo, a golden dragon on his left forearm. It was years since he left the Elan. He was no longer the human he once was but he knew he had one thing left to do. He had, before he left had a very precise item made. It was to track her down. He had saved, for years, her blood; taken from his lips when they had pressed upon her own time & time again. He watched her lit room at the inn. She had entered with a young human fop, a rich boy who could pay for the best room of the inn. They spent hours there. S’linar as he was now known waited patiently outside. He didn’t even see her slip out in the morning hours. The simple crystal sphere he was holding was the only thing that let him know she was moving again on the streets. He followed it and smiled in irony as it led him to a shrine devoted to the god of trickery. As he approached he heard her giggling & could see her embracing a man in black leather. Together they were counting through a bag of loot. They both suddenly looked up at S’linar as he entered. The man drew his rapier & sneered, she drew a dagger ready to hurl it. Suddenly, she looked at his eyes & knew who it was. “I know you,” she said, gesturing for the man to lower his rapier. She smiled knowingly. “Please Montigue, leave us.” He looked at her with a slight annoyance then back at the Elan and back at her. Her eyes hinted at promised lust & he caught the look. The rogue smiled sheathed his rapier & said “I will see you in the room” and vanished. The drow rogue female then turned to S’linar sauntering up to him standing at the outer rim of the shrine. “You look different, very changed. You’re not the simple acolyte you were. It’s like you’re a different person. I barely recognize you. You give off power now! It’s so sexy,” he made no reply but simply stared at her. She frowned as his eyes showed no passion towards her and dropped her beguiling demeanor. “Come now. You’re not mad at me are you?” she said her mouth making a nearly real pout. “Please, as a devotee of the god of trickery you should understand the faithful that lives a life devoted only to that! Come now I’ve long since returned the objects, it was just a game I would never anger my god,” she grinned slyly then stopped. She showed nervousness for the first time. He suddenly spoke; his voice came steadily & with a tinge of anger. “No I do not worship that god anymore!” An arc of fire burned from his hands. It was only her quick reactions that saved her from being burned as well, even though she could tell the flames were not directed mainly at her. They tore into the shrine lighting it afire. His face became an insane grin. “The only god I worship is fire & the fire is me!” He then lowered his arms & looked at her. She turn & ran. He simply smiled then turned back & watched the shrine burn; the crowd began to gather…. Hours later the man emerges from the parlor. The hour is late. He walks thru the city, if you were a bird overhead monitoring his progress you would see he winds his way out of the city. And back into the world, as he makes his way out he passes an oven & tosses a crystal globe into it, it shatters & melts. He thinks of her one last time & leaves through the gates.
Zankue 06-06-07, 05:28 PM	I'm new to psionics so I think that I can explain this well. Psionics is a totally new system and while it is very similar to magic it's still confusing when you first learn it. I think that all the "what powers/feats" is just the new people asking for advice. I had one of my own, I didn't really want to miss anything really good so I had to ask since I was unfamiliar w/ the system. So no I don't think that there's a lack of RP there's a lack of knowing.
Tyroki 06-06-07, 05:33 PM	I'm new to D&D. And most especially Psionics. I've been looking at Psion for ages now. Sure, I haven't played for long, but I used to read the books ALOT. Especially the Draconomicon ^^ Loved the indepth descriptions into the world of Dragons, and alot of it made sense. Recently, my DM finally let me START as a Psionics character. Man, I've been stoked xD And the other day, we finally started. One of my mates is a fighter. He's aiming for tempest, and then Dread Pirate. He's a spinoff of Jack Sparrow, and a mighty good one too ^^ It's hilarious. The other guy isn't great at RPing. He's playing a sorc, and is a wizzy lover. He's a bit of a number cruncher, but for this campaign he's sitting back a little to enjoy. So far, his characters a bit hard to judge character-wise. Mine... Well... =3 He's a 1003 year old Elan, and a Psionic Shaper to boot. He was a powerful Psion at one stage, but recently attempted a Psychic Reformation 'ritual' to change the nature of his very being. It failed, thrusting him backward in power (To level 1). He still has his memories of course, and being 1003, it gives me alot of chances to bring out all kinds of stories about his past adventures, while keeping his age and the fact he's an Elan, secret to his companions. He's a bit of a strange one, and has a powerful enemy thats out to get him. Also, there is a dwarvern harbinger of ill-omen that he tries his hardest to avoid (Yeah, we're playing 3.5, but I found a website with those stronger flaws, and the DM finally said yes to them, but only for one extra feat) Having only recently started, it's hard to tell how things will be, but it's been absolutely hilarious so far ^^ My mate and I just love giving the DM a hard time with out random quotes. Like in the last campaign. We were in a forest so we started singing "The teddybears picnic" but replaced Teddybear with Bugbear xD And when we came to a ruin, I sung London Bridge but turned it into "The ruins are falling down, falling down, falling down" XD At that point I was a ranger. My first character xD Then, after being ejected from the campaign because my DM thought it was just creepy that I was RPing a female, sometime later he let me back in as a Dragonfire Adept. It was fun being the talker rather than just a fighter ^^ But the trouble was, it didn't add much to a fight when needed. So, for the new campaign (The last one wasn't going anywhere. My mate made his own kingdom xD We got grounded) I made this Psion. Loving the Astral Construct xD My DM let me have a healing power I made called "Soothing Touch" from the beginning, so I have Astral Construct, Vigor, and Soothing Touch. My character loves to build and sculpt things, hence Astral Construct. He's quite weak and old, hence vigor. And Soothing Touch actually can be roleplayed in some great ways ^^ (It's a touch power =3 Just process that one for a moment xD) Oh and the DM is using the "Psionics is Different" rule. So it could get interesting ^^ He even gives us extra XP for RPing =D
Vharuck 06-06-07, 05:50 PM	I was playing an elf Telepath in an online campaign which started at 1st level (but we had 6 players). I even went so far as to wear leather armor (no armor check penalty and +2 armor!). I acted so erudite, using complex words and making sure everyone knew I knew everything (and if I didn't know it, they believed I could read their minds and learn it from them!). I had so much fun with the conversations, making sure the character seemed haughty but also that the other players knew it was only roleplaying and were having fun with it. After defeating the obligatory bandits, we found the cave we sought. Immediately, a giant zombie appeared from the darkness, swinging a massive greatsword. Unable to use my mindthrust against the undead, I pulled out and fired my light crossbow. The zombie shambled over and swung at me... cleaving me in two. The DM said this because the zombie critted with a greatsword and rolled amazingly well. I had the hit points of a 1st level elf psion (1d4 with a -2 racial penalty to Con), and so my total went well below the "dead" point. I declined creating a new character, but I did have fun playing that one.
Tyroki 06-06-07, 06:01 PM	I was playing an elf Telepath in an online campaign which started at 1st level (but we had 6 players). I even went so far as to wear leather armor (no armor check penalty and +2 armor!). I acted so erudite, using complex words and making sure everyone knew I knew everything (and if I didn't know it, they believed I could read their minds and learn it from them!). I had so much fun with the conversations, making sure the character seemed haughty but also that the other players knew it was only roleplaying and were having fun with it. After defeating the obligatory bandits, we found the cave we sought. Immediately, a giant zombie appeared from the darkness, swinging a massive greatsword. Unable to use my mindthrust against the undead, I pulled out and fired my light crossbow. The zombie shambled over and swung at me... cleaving me in two. The DM said this because the zombie critted with a greatsword and rolled amazingly well. I had the hit points of a 1st level elf psion (1d4 with a -2 racial penalty to Con), and so my total went well below the "dead" point. I declined creating a new character, but I did have fun playing that one. Ouch. Thats a bit of a killer O.o Haha. Speaking of Crits... My DM loves writing out finishing moves, ESPECIALLY on crits xD It was funny. The other day when I first started playing that Psion, I summoned my Astral Construct in our first battle against anything. Two orcs and a goblin. The fighter charged right on in, bonking the first orc on the arm (He was using a rapier, but rolled a 1 for damage and only JUST hit) The sorc (Who keeps being mistaken for a girl, though he's a guy... Damn hilarious), cast grease to make the orcs slip up, giving the fighter an AoO as one got up. As for my venerable Psion, well. He started summoning an Astral Construct. The sorc got hit by the goblins crossbow bolt. He dazed the other orc for the fighter, and I ordered my Construct to attack the goblin xD A 1. He missed so badly xD The goblin didn't do any better (1) and lost the shortspear he'd taken out xD Next round, the fighter killed the dazed orc with ease. While I went off to heal the sorc, the construct managed a 20 xD So the DM RPed it diving into the goblins body, then erupting outward from all sides, leaving goblin goo falling from the sky xD Brilliant. It was awesome. We even got an extra 50 XP each for RPing ^^ I can't wait to play again this evening! ^^
Bacris 06-06-07, 06:07 PM	My first 3.5 psionic character was actually a converted 3.0 kineticist (he was originally an egoist, but i didn't really care for shapechanging, so the DM let me switch over). The best times with him were by far those that had his psicryst as the spotlight - since the DM controlled the psicrystal (although it usually did what I wanted it to), he made it sound like Billy Bob Thornton's character from "Slingblade." My current character is a human ardent - he has the knowledge, conflict, and life mantles. In other words, he's a psionic cleric :p But he's been a lot of fun because he'll go in and whoop some ass, but then when we're actually in RP discussions, he'll bust out the philosophical and knowledge of obscure subjects. I briefly played an egoist - also known as monkey-boy, since he used metamorphosis to go ape-form. He got picked on a lot, except for when he managed to tear the arms off enemies (I love overly-descriptive death sequences :)).
Crimson_Concerto 06-06-07, 06:17 PM	My second favorite character ever was a gestalt Wilder/Rogue. He was a detective, making frequent use of his skill expertise and charismatic personality to solve mysteries and uncover plots, and whenever he got in a jam, he'd reveal himself to be much more than he appeared and unleash his potent telekinetic abilities. :D
Tyroki 06-06-07, 06:20 PM	(I love overly-descriptive death sequences :)). As do I ^0^ I want to grab Expanded Knowledge to grab Metamorphosis. I think it'd make a good RP tool xD And having another character use me as a weapon and getting a death sequence, damn that'd be awesome xD
RadicalTaoist 06-06-07, 09:22 PM	Indeed, some of the best roleplayed characters I have ever seen (Erut the Forgotten, Angela Loren Ghallanda) are psionic.
Tempest Stormwind 06-06-07, 09:57 PM	Indeed, some of the best roleplayed characters I have ever seen (Erut the Forgotten, Angela Loren Ghallanda) are psionic. You left off your own character, RT... Lehatharath's certainly up there, being the freakin' star of the show and all. If anything, he's also a spotlight hog. :p (RT and I have been the psionic half of an Eberron party for nearly a year now.)
AntiDjinn 06-06-07, 09:57 PM	This is a pretty standard Stormwind Fallacy discussion. Roleplay and game mechanics are independent of each other. One involves what is written on the character sheet and what the dice have to say, the other is what happens between the players at the table. What is written on your character sheet has no more bearing on whether or not you have a personality than what is written on the tag of your T-shirt. If you change the stats and feats on a character sheet so that an uber character is suddenly a pathetic mish-mash of poorly chosen skills and feats, the player sitting behind that sheet doesn't suddenly morph into an impassioned role-player. People have noted that poor role-players often emphasize the mechanical aspects of the game, the mistake is in drawing the conclusion that one factor must cause the other. You don't see volumes of stories about characters who were well optimized and expertly role-played because their DM's don't turn up on the board to complain about them.
Tyroki 06-06-07, 10:54 PM	This is a pretty standard Stormwind Fallacy discussion. Roleplay and game mechanics are independent of each other. One involves what is written on the character sheet and what the dice have to say, the other is what happens between the players at the table. What is written on your character sheet has no more bearing on whether or not you have a personality than what is written on the tag of your T-shirt. If you change the stats and feats on a character sheet so that an uber character is suddenly a pathetic mish-mash of poorly chosen skills and feats, the player sitting behind that sheet doesn't suddenly morph into an impassioned role-player. People have noted that poor role-players often emphasize the mechanical aspects of the game, the mistake is in drawing the conclusion that one factor must cause the other. You don't see volumes of stories about characters who were well optimized and expertly role-played because their DM's don't turn up on the board to complain about them. Awww come on Anti-djinn ^^ Tell us some of your D&D Psionic RPing experiences ^^ I'd like to read them.
AntiDjinn 06-07-07, 12:11 AM	My current character is a female half-giant psychic warrior. At 7'7" she looks like a cross between Grace Jones and Queen Latifah. Her name is Zenobia ("Zen"). She is dredlocked and speaks common with a Rastafarian accent. Her prized magic item (the DM let us start with a trivial item) is a pipe that causes the user to become psionically focused without needing a concentration check if it is smoked for 1 minute (trivial because 1 minute is more than enough time to make the roll anyway). While traditional (i.e. Darksun) half-giants come from a desert environment, in this world (a home brew) they hail from a series of tropical islands and a few costal nations. Their cultures are similar to those of the real world West Indies, Northern Africa, and the Southern Mediterranean. Currently, our group is stranded in the "Viking" section of the main campaign continent. We have been cut off by a wide-spread zombieocalypse, so none of the PCs can return to their homelands. Zen originally arrived as part of an invading force from the south (she can tow a siege engine by herself) but when a massive number of undead suddenly rose and began attacking everyone, both sides were forced to put aside their war and huddle together. Most of the locals are Germanic human tribesmen, dwarves, and gnomes. They have never seen a half-giant before nor dealt with someone so dark of skin. They refer to her as an Aesir and she doesn't care to correct them. The rest of the party is a bunch of misfits and cast-offs so we get along pretty well. Though she is unhappy at the distrust the locals have shown, she thrives on being misjudged and underestimated. People assume she is savage like the local giants, but this is not the case. They assume she is slow-witted, but this is also not the case (especially with her Observant psicrystal; she takes note of more than others realize). They assume she is lumbering and slow, Skate shows them otherwise, if the need arises. Though the party sorceress doesn't know it, Zen is keeping a mental note of it each time she uses the term "meat shield"; if it reaches 10 then the sorceress will learn the meaning of the term "meat projectile."
Tyroki 06-07-07, 12:21 AM	She sounds like fun ^^ I wonder how far Zen'll throw 'er =D
Unnatural clone 06-07-07, 05:36 AM	I've played numerous psionic characters this last two years. Unfortunately, it was for really short campaigns, and our DM order us a new character for each campaign. So, I've never had the time to complete their roleplay. :( First, Fendleciel (in english, you can translate it in Skysplitter), my half-giant archer. He was really focused on the sensitive theme (using Zen archery), so he can hear about anything. Once, two PC decided to mate together... and Skysplitter was not far, taking note of every little love message between the cleric and the bard! :D It was also the biggest background I've created, something like 15 pages (!). I've give him a gnomish name, have a sketch of his house, I even created song in giant language! And that comes the greatest roleplay moment with him; my party want to hear one of his songs. So, Skysplitter take a deep breath... and I begin to sing some very rythmics borborygmus, with a friend playing the guitar IRL to create the music. Very good moments; indeed. :) Second, Nagien, 9-years-old shaper focused on Astral Construct (yeah, I know, how original! :P ). It was also very pleasant to play that one, the PC's have created a kind of family mood in the group. I went to sleep earlier, was bored in libraries, etc. All of my AC's have a name, an origin and a particular look. I remember once, when the BBEG was lying on the floor because of a Grease power, I was laughing and screaming at my AC (Hammer, two legs, one head hard as rock, not much more...): "Yeaaaaayy, harder, harder Hammer!". And the party to repeat all together: "Harder! Harder! Harder!"! :D Third, Thra'klek't "Razor", a thri-kreen master thrower focused on multi chatchkas (very strong build, in fact). It was the opposite of the two previous, who were very sociable; Razor, in a complete game session, has said... two sentences. And one of them was "Look out!". :P It was the archetype of the silent hunter. He was also the Jumping Jack of the team, pretending he doesn't need a Levitation spell... and prove it. We have more fun with a character who never speaks than with a verbious wizard in the same group, who finished hit with a hammer to make it stop talking. That's why I love psionics: it's so easier to roleplay when you don't need to take an hour to select your spells! :P See ya. :cool:
RadicalTaoist 06-07-07, 12:19 PM	You left off your own character, RT... Lehatharath's certainly up there, being the freakin' star of the show and all. If anything, he's also a spotlight hog. :p (RT and I have been the psionic half of an Eberron party for nearly a year now.) You know, I always saw 'Rosse as a better protagonist storywise. Sure, L makes all the decisions, but that doesn't make him the hero hero. 'Rosse would make a great Luke to L's Jade, Neo to L's Morpheus, Ed to L's Mustang, etc. etc. Think Last Exile.
lears_fool 06-07-07, 02:53 PM	Actually, on my side I've had some great fun with developing full characters that are psionic and non, but the character that the system actually HELPED develop a whopping personality was psionic. He actually started as a bit of a dare ([dramatization] friend: 'Uncarnates suck, total waste of a PRC', me: 'Oh yeah! Well, I'll make one not suck, and you smell!') Since the DM made us stick with one PRC once we started it (no dabbling) I played it like the Uncarnate bit was a bit lovecraftian. .not in the tentacley elder gods sense but rather in the 'once you follow this forbidden path there's no turning back and there's things you'll regret about it'. By sixteenth level he was simuntaneously a half-elven socialite with a somewhat shady reputation who was known in some circles as the contact for a rogue known as 'The King's Shadow' (there was no king, the governments nearby were either theocratic or parlimentary), the ultimate acquirer-of-things-for-hire - that same 'shadow', a generally unseen halfling rogue - a scarred human priestlike figure, the leader of a sort of cult of the unfaithful (with his cohort, a halfling luckpriest actually being the high priest - his deity being exceedingly out of favor in the area - an unseen prankster-like figure with a reputation for having fun at the expense of the pretentious (the things you can do with Temporal Acceleration, paint, and silly hats) - and a couple of other personas . . all the while dealing with some serious angst at being unable to really interact/touch/love and an ongoing quest to obtain an item or ability to allow him to be corporeal for more than a minute a day. Complex/fun characters aren't that hard to make, and having a good group (especially one that does in-person and forum-based play int he same campaign!) . .but in this case the psionic system REALLY helped him become even more interesting than I'd initially planned.
TikiMan 06-07-07, 05:02 PM	I get this sentiment all the time. It mostly comes from the fact that before a game starts, I'm all about the rules. I geek out over new classes (I'm still frothing over Tome of Battle), help people build melee-competent characters, and try to help people make whatever character they want. I was recently called a 'rules fiend' when someone said 'you just can't do X in D&D' and I responded with multiple feats, spells, and class abilities that could approximate it. So, coming off all 'powergamery' like that, a new DM sighed and resigned himself to having to deal with someone who couldn't role-play. And boy did I prove him wrong. My character (a human Psiwar) is currently King of the Bars (official title endowed by the local university frats) and has raided the panties of a charisma 20+ Sorcsorority. I'm not at the top of the kill count, nor do I care to be. After the game the DM said he was really surprised at how much I RPed and how well I stayed in character. He also said that some of the other players were complaining that I was hogging the spotlight, so we both agreed that I needed to RP just a little bit less. :D I'd also like to echo Tempest and Inkblot's comments. Most people coming to this forum are looking for rules advice, not RP advice. That doesn't mean we don't provide RP advice from time to time though.
RadicalTaoist 06-07-07, 06:26 PM	My character (a human Psiwar) is currently King of the Bars (official title endowed by the local university frats) and has raided the panties of a charisma 20+ Sorcsorority. Please tell me you're playing Sigil Prep. You win an internet even if you answer no, but please tell me you're playing Sigil Prep.
Tyroki 06-07-07, 06:27 PM	Flavour for the win ^^
TikiMan 06-08-07, 01:11 AM	Sigil Prep? No idea what that is. We're playing in a home-brewed game and the university we're at was just a random creation of the DM.
Tempest Stormwind 06-08-07, 01:14 AM	Sigil Prep? No idea what that is. We're playing in a home-brewed game and the university we're at was just a random creation of the DM. Sigil Prep. (http://www.sigilprep.com/index.htm) Better than Planescape in the same way that 3.5 psionics is better than AD&D or 3e psionics, and on the same order of magnitude.
TikiMan 06-08-07, 01:33 AM	Lol, that stuff is awesome. I know what I'm going to DM next... as soon as my crafty friends learn of some way to make me DM again that is. :D
Kaiberon 06-10-07, 09:39 PM	I think my first 3.5 character was a Kineticist in a FR campaign my friend ran. He had planned on introducing Psionics later so he figured introducing me as a relatively unique entity would be cool. Unfortunately he didn't know anything about Immediate Actions. Voss spent the first half of the campaign trying to find a God to worship since he didn't really think any of the FR gods fit him. Since he was a wandering monk type he ended up going with Finder Wyvernspur. The first time he died he ended up almost getting shunted into that soul wall thing so he basically prayed for a miracle from any god that would listen. Since Finder is kinda, y'know... weak, he thought a powerful unique entity like a Psion would be a good servitor (Iwas level 11 at the time). I ended up being a special case Planar Ally for those Saurials that worship him. I ended up getting summoned out of a battle to fight one of theirs. It was cool since it basically became a free recharge in the middle of the battle and pulled my fat out of the fire. The next time I died I was on the Astral Plane, rolled a one on a save vs Feeble mind (damn lich queen). Since there are no rules on what happens to a Psicrystal when the Psion dies either I started to play the Crystal. I ended up meeting the evil Psionic Crystal Dragon minor god thing from a minds eye article. He rezzed me as a favor that he would "collect later", sadly the campaign ended too soon for him to do so.
Tyroki 06-10-07, 09:50 PM	I think my first 3.5 character was a Kineticist in a FR campaign my friend ran. He had planned on introducing Psionics later so he figured introducing me as a relatively unique entity would be cool. Unfortunately he didn't know anything about Immediate Actions. Voss spent the first half of the campaign trying to find a God to worship since he didn't really think any of the FR gods fit him. Since he was a wandering monk type he ended up going with Finder Wyvernspur. The first time he died he ended up almost getting shunted into that soul wall thing so he basically prayed for a miracle from any god that would listen. Since Finder is kinda, y'know... weak, he thought a powerful unique entity like a Psion would be a good servitor (Iwas level 11 at the time). I ended up being a special case Planar Ally for those Saurials that worship him. I ended up getting summoned out of a battle to fight one of theirs. It was cool since it basically became a free recharge in the middle of the battle and pulled my fat out of the fire. The next time I died I was on the Astral Plane, rolled a one on a save vs Feeble mind (damn lich queen). Since there are no rules on what happens to a Psicrystal when the Psion dies either I started to play the Crystal. I ended up meeting the evil Psionic Crystal Dragon minor god thing from a minds eye article. He rezzed me as a favor that he would "collect later", sadly the campaign ended too soon for him to do so. Aww, thats so gutting. Wouldn't it have been fun to have the dragon recall the favor? >.>
sword_war444 06-11-07, 02:09 PM	I like psionics. I find them fun to play. I realy feel that psionic have more choses than magic does for offensive(melle) players and because of that I find it much funner to Roleplay a psionic charcter. My favorite charcter was a psionic warrior/fighter/monk/warblade/sword sage/ darksun ninja.
Lycanthromancer 06-11-07, 08:41 PM	Eek. Multiclass much? :P
Tyroki 06-12-07, 04:40 AM	Wow, I'm really beginning to love this character now. We found this hole you see, which the party fighter fell down because he failed reflex xD It was awesome. 3 Kobolds looked on very angrily, and even when I tried to talk to them (Gotta love Draconic xD), they were under orders to attack. So, we lowered a rope, and the fighter took hold of it. Being a Jack Sparrow spinoff named Jace Montana, he took hold of the rope, and said "This will be the day you will always remember, as the day you nearly ate, Captain Jace Montana" and we all cracked up xD Next Session we decided to go back down and loot the den. Well, we were poor! So, my character formulated the plan (Intelligent sod). The fighter was to go down the rope and take the kobolds on with his rapier. The sorc was to go to the otherside of the hole and grease the little blighters if they became nasty, and my Shaper was to create an Astral Construct between them all if that failed. It was funny, because while the fighter made his way down, he failed a climb roll, but managed to grasp some vines and twigs to catch himself. My Psion, being the venerable old fart he is (Though he looks like a young man of 20), yelled at him for making such a mistake, but admitted that it was a nice save. This was of course before we found out that the Sorc didn't have enough range to do anything, so my Shaper ordered him down with the fighter to get a better shot. (The Sorc is a guy named Kyla who looks almost like a girl, which the party thus mocks) He then created an Astral Construct between them all, helping the fighter flank the kobolds. Then the cheeky blighter pulled out his book, dangled his legs over the side of the hole, and let the construct do the work xD (It was overchannelled to 2 rounds, yay!) Well, Kyla tried to climb down the rope, and slipped. Failing his reflex save, he fell to the ground and hurt himself pretty badly. My character yelled out. "You worthless sorceress! Back in my day, even your folk could climb down a bloody rope!" I believe it was. XD I found it quite funny, and the DM seemed to like it. I got an RP XP bonus in the end xD I'm enjoying RPing an old fart in his mind who pulls out a book in battle xD The book doesn't do anything, and it gives him no negatives. It's just there to be cheeky.
Batshido 06-12-07, 11:39 AM	Man, I would totally read that. If it had, you know, line breaks. :P
Tyroki 06-12-07, 06:40 PM	Sorry xD I was on a writing spree because we had just finished the session xD
Breetai 06-13-07, 11:47 AM	Do you people still roleplay your character? (IMHO) I'm no fan of Psionics but I am a very experinced gamer. If there's one thing I've learned it's that players who play one class/character type are almost entirely Roll players instead of Roleplayers reguardless of the chosen class psionics or not. Granted I have seen more Psion munchkins fit this bill than any other class by far. IMO it seems to attract those personlities for some reason giving psionics a bad rep.
Guroth the Forsaken 06-13-07, 12:33 PM	I like psionics. I find them fun to play. I realy feel that psionic have more choses than magic does for offensive(melle) players and because of that I find it much funner to Roleplay a psionic charcter. My favorite charcter was a psionic warrior/fighter/monk/warblade/sword sage/ darksun ninja. Ummmm... "funner"?
DrowBattlemind 06-13-07, 01:35 PM	Ahh, a few years ago, I was playing a Drow Psychic Warrior (who prestiged eventually into Elocator) named Tebryn Tathlatis, in our Greyhawk game. I used a lot of flavor from the 2nd Ed Drow of the Underdark book and the 'Year of the Drow' Dragon magazine article that covered Erelhei-Cinlu, the Vault of the Drow. Character Quote: "I'm not doing this because I'm some kind of hero, or because of your vaunted 'greater good', or even because I like you... I'm doing this because you're paying me to..." Very cynical, rather bitter seeming individual at first. (That changed after he began a relationship with another player's female half-elven bard.) He got around with the use of a Skin of Proteus psychotropic skin, and wielded a Icy Burst deep-crystal longsword paired with a psychokinetic burst shortsword. Played him for nearly a year and a half, but our Greyhawk campaign ended when one player moved and another demanded we all start an Eberron game, instead. (Since it was swinging around to his turn as DM, he ran Eberron.) Ah, C'est la morte...