Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lokathor 09-29-07, 01:23 AM	Going to get a psycrystal next level and I have a question about the healing: Why is it said that only psionic repair damage can heal a psycrystal? Wouldn't Body Adjustment work just as well? That is, when you use it on yourself it'll affect your crystal too as long as it's within 5ft, won't it? What's the story?
Fireclave 09-29-07, 02:04 AM	Psycrystal ... Construct Traits A psicrystal has immunity to poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, necromancy effects, mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. It is not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or energy drain. It cannot heal damage, but it can be repaired. Psicrystals do not have the usual construct traits of darkvision and low-light vision. There ya go.
Tedronai 09-29-07, 02:09 AM	That does not, however say that damage cannot be healed
Fireclave 09-29-07, 02:17 AM	That does not, however say that damage cannot be healed Good point. But I'm fairly sure that constructs cannot be healed normally. I'll have to look into it.
Lokathor 09-29-07, 02:41 AM	Yeah, it can't be healed normally, but then the "share powers" ability states: Share Powers (Su) At the owner’s option, he can have any power (but not any psi-like ability) he manifests on himself also affect his psicrystal. The psicrystal must be within 5 feet of him at the time of the manifestation to receive the benefit. If the power has a duration other than instantaneous, it stops affecting the psicrystal if it moves farther than 5 feet away, and will not affect the psicrystal again, even if it returns to its owner before the duration expires. Additionally, the owner can manifest a power with a target of “You” on his psicrystal (as a touch range power) instead of on himself. The owner and psicrystal cannot share powers if the powers normally do not affect creatures of the psicrystal’s type (construct). So the question becomes "Does body adjustment affect constructs?", and there doesn't seem to be anything saying no to that: Body Adjustment Psychometabolism (Healing) Level: Psion/wilder 3, psychic warrior 2 Display: Auditory and material Manifesting Time: 1 round Range: Personal Target: You Duration: Instantaneous Power Points: Psion/wilder 5, psychic warrior 3 You take control of your body’s healing process, curing yourself of 1d12 points of damage. As usual, when regular damage is healed, an equal amount of nonlethal damage is also healed. Augment For every 2 additional power points you spend, this power heals an additional 1d12 points of damage. Constructs healing process is normally non-existent, but it's not saying that a construct is an invalid target. Psychometabolism Psychometabolism powers change the physical properties of some creature, thing, or condition. For the purpose of psionics-magic transparency, psychometabolism powers are equivalent to powers of the transmutation school (thus, creatures immune to transmutation spells are also immune to psychometabolism powers). Healing Psychometabolism powers of the healing subdiscipline can remove damage from creatures. However, psionic healing usually falls short of divine magical healing, in direct comparisons. The section on Constructs states: *Cannot heal damage on their own, but often can be repaired by exposing them to a certain kind of effect (see the creature’s description for details) or through the use of the Craft Construct feat. A construct with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality. Constructs can be 'healed' in special cases of magic, so it seems fine that you can Body Adjustment yourself and have your psycrystal benefit from it too.
Fireclave 09-29-07, 02:48 AM	Yeah, it can't be healed normally, but then the "share powers" ability states: <...etc...> I understood all of that. I meant through normal, magical means (specifically cure spells and the like). This isn't the case with psicrystals since, unlike Cure spells, Body Adjustment doesn't have a fort save, and therefore constructs aren't automatically immune to it like they are vs cures.
CrimsonDeath 09-29-07, 03:17 AM	I understood all of that. I meant through normal, magical means (specifically cure spells and the like). This isn't the case with psicrystals since, unlike Cure spells, Body Adjustment doesn't have a fort save, and therefore constructs aren't automatically immune to it like they are vs cures. Cure spells don't have a Fort save either. They're Will half (harmless). However, Cure spells specifically state that they only function on "living creatures" or "undead". Since constructs are neither living nor undead, they ignore Cure spells. Body Adjustment, on the other hand, doesn't mention specific groups of creatures it does or doesn't affect, so one may conclude that it affects any creature who manages to qualify as a target (namely, the manifester, or anyone that the manifester can share powers with).
Fireclave 09-29-07, 03:25 AM	I'm rolling 1's in this thread (I need to stop posting this late at night). I messed up with the Cure spells, but I understood why Body Adjustment would work.
Tsuul 09-29-07, 03:42 AM	*Cannot heal damage on their own, but often can be repaired by exposing them to a certain kind of effect (see the creature’s description for details) or through the use of the Craft Construct feat. A construct with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.The burden of what is considered a "certain kind of effect", I believe, lies within the specific creature, as noted in the perenticies. Take the clay golem for example. Any magical attack against a clay golem that deals acid damage heals 1 point of damage for every 3 points of damage it would otherwise deal. If the amount of healing would cause the golem to exceed its full normal hit points, it gains any excess as temporary hit points. For example, a clay golem hit by the breath weapon of a black dragon heals 7 points of damage if the attack would have dealt 22 points of damage. A clay golem golem gets no saving throw against magical attacks that deal acid damage.
CrimsonDeath 09-29-07, 10:14 AM	Would Psicrystal Affinity be considered equivalent to the Craft Construct feat for the purposes of repairing a Psicrystal, much like the Craft Homunculus class feature of Artificers is considered equivalent to Craft Construct for the purposes of repairing Homunculi?
hunterc311 09-29-07, 11:24 PM	Body Adjustment has the subtype (Healing), and though it does not say "heals" in the description (it says "cures"), it says heals in the augment section, so it is clear that the power "heals". Psicrystals cannot be healed. So if you manifest the power on yourself, it works fine, but when it is manifested on your psicrystal, nothing happens. Also, the power states "you take control of your body's healing process" - psicrystals do not have a healing process, so what is this power "taking control of" when it affects the psicrystal? There is no healing process to affect.
Racinante 09-30-07, 10:06 PM	Body Adjustment has the subtype (Healing), and though it does not say "heals" in the description (it says "cures"), it says heals in the augment section, so it is clear that the power "heals". Psicrystals cannot be healed. So if you manifest the power on yourself, it works fine, but when it is manifested on your psicrystal, nothing happens. Also, the power states "you take control of your body's healing process" - psicrystals do not have a healing process, so what is this power "taking control of" when it affects the psicrystal? There is no healing process to affect. I agree completely, and this is also one reason why I feel that there should be no penalty for a dead psicrystal except waiting until the next time your pool is replenished to gain a new one.
Chardre 09-30-07, 10:18 PM	Body Adjustment Psychometabolism (Healing) Level: Psion/wilder 3, psychic warrior 2 Display: Auditory and material Manifesting Time: 1 round Range: Personal Target: You Duration: Instantaneous Power Points: Psion/wilder 5, psychic warrior 3 You take control of your body’s healing process, curing yourself of 1d12 points of damage. As usual, when regular damage is healed, an equal amount of nonlethal damage is also healed. Augment For every 2 additional power points you spend, this power heals an additional 1d12 points of damage. I think those are the keywords. Since Psicrystals don't have natural healing processes I think they're excluded.
jbsaff 10-01-07, 10:54 AM	You take control of your body’s healing process... Isn't "You" defined as the manifester? If so, then this bit wouldn't necessarily rule out a psicrystal, since it isn't the manifester. This isn't to say that Body Adjustment does work or should work. I just think this arguement may not apply.
kyeudo 10-01-07, 12:16 PM	Lets take a different tack for a second. Lets suppose a Necropolitian Psion manifests Body Adjustment. He heals 1d12 damage, even though he's technicaly dead and has no bodily healing process (He may heal "naturaly", but its by supernatural means). A psicrystal can have Body Adjustment shared to it, so the power of Body Adjustment converts to repair the psicrystal. Any other interpretation gimps psicrystals.
CrimsonDeath 10-01-07, 02:55 PM	Or how about a Warforged? Sure, Repair Damage is more PP-efficient, but nowhere is there a rule that characters are required to behave rationally.
Tsuul 10-01-07, 05:00 PM	Isn't "You" defined as the manifester? If so, then this bit wouldn't necessarily rule out a psicrystal, since it isn't the manifester. This isn't to say that Body Adjustment does work or should work. I just think this arguement may not apply.The "you" is made murky by the shared powers thing. Take produce flame, a classic self buff druid spell that druids often share with their animal companions . It too uses the word "you" liberally. That doesn't mean that it's the caster that is shooting the companions flames.
CrimsonDeath 10-01-07, 05:24 PM	Isn't "You" defined as the manifester? If so, then this bit wouldn't necessarily rule out a psicrystal, since it isn't the manifester. This isn't to say that Body Adjustment does work or should work. I just think this arguement may not apply. "You" is also defined as the target. In the case of most Personal-range powers, "You" is explicitly defined as the target. "Share Powers" allows the Psicrystal to be a target of the power, so "You" refers to the psicrystal.
Lokathor 10-02-07, 05:42 AM	Ok, well, It seems to boil down to a "DM Decision" kind of thing (as to if the 'natural healing process' of a construct can be manipulated). Clearly the power does target your psycrystal properly, but there might be no effect produced depending on your DM's thoughts. Psycrystal Question 2: What kinds of feats are suggested for a psycrystal to take? Specificly, a Single-Minded psycrystal that's owned by a telepath going for thrallherd. Take a bunch of skill focuses and assist on every skill check? Or is there a less obvious yet more useful task that can be filled?
kyeudo 10-02-07, 09:33 AM	What powers will you be taking? Sharing some powers with a psicrystal can turn him into quite the little fighter.
Lokathor 10-02-07, 11:45 AM	The power selection plan in the near future is probably something like this: 1st: Defensive Precognition, Energy Ray, Psionic Charm 2nd: Matter Agitation, Mindlink (currently Demoralize, but going to retrain to this later) 3rd: Ego Whip, Aversion 4th: Specified Energy Adaptation, Detect Hostile Intent (? or Vigor+Share Pain ?) 5th: Dispel Psionics, Body Adjustment (or maybe Time Hop) 6th: don't get a ML this level (Thrallherd 1) And feats: flaw(Noncombat): Speed Of Thought flaw(Solitary Paragon): Inquisitor 1st: Psionic Body Human: Psionic Endowment Psion1: Greater Psionic Endowment 3rd: Psycrystal Affinity(Single-Minded) Psion5: class ability replacement to get Telepathy 5ft*ML (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070411a) 6th: Psycrystal Containment We're also using the retraining rules, so things won't exactly be stuck in place if they turn out to be bad picks. The character fancies himself as kind of Captain in charge of the party, and his herd will be the rest of "crew". The party also consists of a warlock and a necromancer. So, they'll probably have a lot of magical attack ability of the direct damage type already covered. The necromancer has a powerful warrior skeleton as a familiar replacement (Unearthed Arcana (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#necromancer Variants)) so melee might isn't exactly needed either (the skeleton can be replaced after 24 hours with only 100gp expended). With an Int of only 15, DC based powers aren't the best option without Greater Psionic Endowment to power them. Mostly, I use Matter Agitation and then concentrate on it until a foe drops. Most of my responsibility is in terms of making "command decisions" to direct the other two players of the party (who aren't as familiar with the game) so that they can win the battles.
PhaedrusXY 10-02-07, 12:11 PM	Take a few ranks in Use Magic Device or Use Psionic Device, and have the psicrystal take Skill Focus for that. Then give it some wands/dorjes. :D
Lycanthromancer 10-02-07, 12:32 PM	Might I suggest having it take Hidden/Wild Talent with, say, crystal shard, (or just use dorjes), then Point Blank Shot, Psionic Shot, Psionic Meditation, and Greater Psionic Shot? Or, it could take Hidden Talent with Claws of the Beast/Bite of the Wolf, along with Flyby Attack and some other monstrous feats out of the Monster Manual, and maybe some psionic feats. If you take EK: expansion and EK: metamorphosis, you could charm and dominate your foes while buffing your psicrystal 'bodyguard,' having it flank with your cronies and the necromancer's skeleton. It would, of course, take feats like Power Attack and Cleave, and with a long enough reach, it could dominate the battlefield. Also, if you're going thrallherd, telepath is not the best option for your discipline. After all, the best telepath powers are charm and dominate anyway, and you get those for FREE as a thrallherd. Of course, you could always completely ignore the flavor of the Illithid Heritage feats and start giving those to your psicrystal. The flavor could be altered to your psicrystal being a manifestation of your dreams, and it takes on the form of a nightmarish creature of doom to attack your foes.
Lokathor 10-02-07, 01:26 PM	Yeah, you get charm and dominate for free, but I can just retrain them away immediately before thrallard grants them as extras, and so I just end up with a few more powers than normal. The cost reduction is still bananas, and the Thrall with a max level of (my HD -1) is cool. Not being a Telepath means that I don't get the great class skill list either (great for my purposes at least). I love the idea about Use Magic Device (though it's perhaps a bit small for most magical devices, and it never gets scrolls), but I should have mentioned that Complete Psionic is not in play. As for psycrystal flavor: because of a series of jokes during character creation, the game has a kind of Star Trek feel to it. The psycrystal will be played out as the computer (LCARS), whenever the situation calls for it to speak or interact. A Single-Minded personality seems fitting for such a role.
Lycanthromancer 10-02-07, 01:30 PM	Hmm. Take Hidden Talent: energy ray? "Set your psicrystal to stun, Mr. Data."
CrimsonDeath 10-02-07, 03:13 PM	Of course, you could always completely ignore the flavor of the Illithid Heritage feats An excellent suggestion for any campaign.
Lokathor 10-03-07, 05:44 AM	Interesting. I know that Illithid Heritage is in Complete Psionics, but where is Hidden Talent printed? And does it grant the power as a 1/day psi-like ability or do you just learn it and spend PP normally?
InkBlot 10-03-07, 11:13 AM	Hidden Talent is in the Expanded Psionics Handbook, in the section about campaign options. It's only for use in high-psionics games. It's not OGL so it's not in the SRD. Hidden Talent gives you power points and a power known to manifest as if you were a psion or wilder or something. If you actually become a psion or wilder or something, you add that power to your repetoire for that class.
CrimsonDeath 10-03-07, 02:34 PM	Hidden Talent is in the Expanded Psionics Handbook, in the section about campaign options. It's only for use in high-psionics games. It's not OGL so it's not in the SRD. Hidden Talent gives you power points and a power known to manifest as if you were a psion or wilder or something. If you actually become a psion or wilder or something, you add that power to your repetoire for that class. You can manifest the power at ML 1, but you aren't considered to have a manifester level, so you can't boost your ML with Practiced Manifester or qualify for feats or prestiege classes that require a manifester level.
Scion of Coldshard 10-04-07, 03:16 PM	Hmm. Take Hidden Talent: energy ray? "Set your psicrystal to stun, Mr. Data." Matter agitation is probably a better plan overall.. better utility and it can do a whole lot more damage.. given enough time.. 1+d4+8d6 (max)... and since the effect could basically be coming from anywhere as the crystal is pretty small.. such as a little whole in your hat or something.. 'why is your hat setting my pants on fire??' ;)
Scion of Coldshard 10-04-07, 03:20 PM	Psycrystal Question 2: What kinds of feats are suggested for a psycrystal to take? Specificly, a Single-Minded psycrystal that's owned by a telepath going for thrallherd. Take a bunch of skill focuses and assist on every skill check? Or is there a less obvious yet more useful task that can be filled? There are some suggestions here (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=698578). I really should go through and update that for a lot of newer feats.. there are a lot of good ones in the ToB:Book of Nine Swords.. and if you can convince your dm to modify the feat 'undead meldshaper' for a construct and give it a stat boosting item for whichever stat he chooses to use for it.. well.. some of those soulmelds could be very interesting! ;)
Lokathor 10-05-07, 02:45 AM	Hidden Talent is in the Expanded Psionics Handbook, in the section about campaign options. It's only for use in high-psionics games. It's not OGL so it's not in the SRD. Ah-ha! Page 66. I've never read the book that closely, mostly using the SRD for the game rules and then keeping the book around as just a portable dictionary of powers for when I need to look one up. Trouble seems to be this: The psycrystal could take Hidden Talent (Matter Agitation), but he could never use it until 4th level because of having only Cha 10. At 4th level you could of course put the stat boost into Cha. Oh well, I'm getting him at 3rd level so it's not a deathly long wait or anything. There are some suggestions here. I really should go through and update that for a lot of newer feats.. there are a lot of good ones in the ToB:Book of Nine Swords.. and if you can convince your dm to modify the feat 'undead meldshaper' for a construct and give it a stat boosting item for whichever stat he chooses to use for it.. well.. some of those soulmelds could be very interesting! Oh deary me no. Incarnum is really unbalanced. It's far too good at low levels and nothing much at high levels. I don't use it unless I'm out to make a nasty "boss monster" type of creature. Mostly totemists are the offenders. I notice though, that you do suggest Body Adjustment as a power to be shared, so obviously I'm not the first to think of it as valid. As for the Tome of Battle stuff, a Psycrystal with Unnerving Calm is a strange thought, and the rest seems like the kind of stuff that the Psycrystal of a Psychic Warrior would be more prone to. Probably some good White Raven stances you could take, or the Martial Spirit stance if you were using a melee-attack granting power regularly.