Seer's Psicrystal(s): A question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Seer's Psicrystal(s): A question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
cnahumck
11-02-07, 05:09 PM I am working on a character that is a Seer in a military campaign. He is a command/recon/communications guy, with followers via the thrallherd PrC. The question is this.

Can I take the Psicrystal feat more than once. The rules do not say that I am allowed, but they don't say that I can't either. Personally, I think that you can only do what the rules say you can but I like the concept of sending small units of believers with a psicrystal that can channel powers and view what is happening from afar. Obviously I could houserule it (and I will see if I can) but I wanted to see what the community thought.
Narthon
11-02-07, 05:22 PM Any feat that you can take more than once states so in its text.
Callix
11-02-07, 08:18 PM You could, of course, take on believers of psionic races, who could all take Psicrystal Affinity to have their own scouts. Alternatively, if you accept the Psicrystal Feats argument, you could have your psicrystal take Wild Talent and Psicrystal Affinity, and iterate that until you have enough crystals. You could only speak to your crystal, but it could Chinese Whispers down to any given psicrystal, and back up again.

The Psicrystal Feats argument is a case of RAW vs RAI; in your case it gives you a loophole to do something cool.
Lokiyn
11-02-07, 08:56 PM Wild talent, hidden talent and psionic races do not necessarily qualify for psicrystal affinity, none of them grant a manifester level,

However there are a few that grant an actual manifester level.
Callix
11-02-07, 09:10 PM Wild talent, hidden talent and psionic races do not necessarily qualify for psicrystal affinity, none of them grant a manifester level,

However there are a few that grant an actual manifester level.

Maenads have Energy Ray (Sonic only) as a 1/day SLA, with a minimum ML of 1. So all Maenads qualify for Psicrystal Affinity.

Getting an ML for a psicrystal is harder; I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I'm sure there's a way.
Jaid
11-02-07, 10:29 PM to clarify, you need a manifesting level, not a manifester level.

(ie, you need a level in a class that manifests powers).
Bacris
11-02-07, 10:59 PM to clarify, you need a manifesting level, not a manifester level.

(ie, you need a level in a class that manifests powers).

Eh, sort of.

"Prerequisites: Manifester level 1st."

However, psicrystal abilities are based on levels in psionic classes - so if you had a level 20 maenad fighter and allowed his sonic energy ray to qualify for psicrystal, the psicrystal wouldn't have any of its special abilities, because the owner level would be 0 for the purposes of the psicrystal.

Interestingly, I can't find any rules in the XPH to support that psionic races with psi-like abilities can't take Psicrystal Affinity...
Arco Versipellis
11-02-07, 11:39 PM Wouldn't it have a manifester level of 10 for a maenad of level twenty? I though it manifested at one-half hit die with a minumum of one.

Hideen Talent doesn't give you a manifester level? That is how I have always considered it since you spend a power point to manifester a power.

T may be slack on enforcing psicrystal rules though. I don't really see a reason to enforce them stiffly either.
Lokiyn
11-02-07, 11:43 PM (This is not a manifester level, and it does not add to any manifester levels gained by taking psionic classes.) If you have no psionic class levels, use Charisma to determine how powerful a power you can manifest and how hard those powers are to resist. ..
Bacris
11-02-07, 11:48 PM Wouldn't it have a manifester level of 10 for a maenad of level twenty? I though it manifested at one-half hit die with a minumum of one.

Psicrystal abilities aren't based on manifester level.

They're based on levels in psionic classes.

So a psion 10 / metamind 10, despite only having a manifester level of 15 (and sucking), has a psicrystal for a 20th level character.

A maenad fighter 20 has no levels in psionic classes, so his psicrystal has none of the special abilities of a psicrystal.

Personally, I'd just rule that you have to have an actual level of a manifesting class to eliminate the problems. :P
Arco Versipellis
11-03-07, 02:24 AM Sorry. I should have read the feat. Still, I don't think I will change the way I rule in my games.

Though some homebrew feats, I've allowed soulknives to use psi-like abilities to gain psicrystals, so I think I will just expanded it to cover this, too.
cnahumck
11-04-07, 12:23 PM Well, after looking at my options, I think what I need is a new Psicrystal feat. So... here goes:

Psicrystal Swarm [Psionic]
You are able to separate your Psicrystal into independent smaller gems, forming a swarm that can be dispersed as you see fit.
Prerequisites: Psicrystal Affinity, Improved Psicrystal taken twice.
Benefit: You may, as a full round action, expend your psionic focus to separate your psicrystal into smaller pieces, forming a swarm. Your Psicrystal gains all the benifits of the swarm subtype, and it may use a swarm attack to inflict 1 point of damage to any creature who's space is occupied by the psicrystal swarm. You may also choose to have your psicrystal swarm separate into smaller groups, one for each personality embedded in the psicrystal. The benefits granted by a psicrystal are changed. All the components must be within range for you to use Solicit Psicrystal or Psicrystal Containment. You may use sight link, develop touch powers, sight link, or channel power only through one separate swarm at a time. Switching between active and passive swarms takes a full round action. Passive swarms follow their last instructions and act as that personality would as normal. They may contact the owner if threated or in need of help.
Special: If you have Psionic Mediation feat, you may switch between active and passive swarms as a move action, rather than a full round action.

So... I know it ain't perfect, but what does the community think? I wanted something balanced, so that you couldn't have 7 psionic foci or the ability to blast 5 different sights in one round.
Sagetim
11-04-07, 12:57 PM I am working on a character that is a Seer in a military campaign. He is a command/recon/communications guy, with followers via the thrallherd PrC. The question is this.

Can I take the Psicrystal feat more than once. The rules do not say that I am allowed, but they don't say that I can either. Personally, I think that you can only do what the rules say you can but I like the concept of sending small units of believers with a psicrystal that can channel powers and view what is happening from afar. Obviously I could houserule it (and I will see if I can) but I wanted to see what the community thought.

I thought I would bold this text because typo's are funny. Also: if your DM houserules you to be allowed to blow feats on getting more psicrystals, thats up to them. However, why not ask the DM if you can make a PrC for it? maybe call it the crystal master, or the schozophrenic?

5 level prc, each level gives a new psycrystal, and at first and every 2 levels you get the improved psycrystal feat, which applies to all crystals. Full manifesting? or maybe partial manifesting. levels stack with psion for psicrystal powers. or maybe count double or something. strong will, weak fort and ref, crap bab. perhaps have some kind of special ability at level 5. Like...being allowed to use teleport type powers centered around the psycrystals, thus you could use psi teleport on a crystal of yours and have 0% chance of mishap.

edit: forgot about psycrystal containment feat...maybe have the class only able to use it with half of it's crystals at any given time (in this case, 1 at level 1 in the prc, 2 at level 3, and 3 at level 5.)
cnahumck
11-04-07, 01:36 PM I thought I would bold this text because typo's are funny.
Stupid spelling...

However, why not ask the DM if you can make a PrC for it? maybe call it the crystal master, or the schozophrenic?

5 level prc, each level gives a new psycrystal, and at first and every 2 levels you get the improved psycrystal feat, which applies to all crystals. Full manifesting? or maybe partial manifesting. levels stack with psion for psicrystal powers. or maybe count double or something. strong will, weak fort and ref, crap bab. perhaps have some kind of special ability at level 5. Like...being allowed to use teleport type powers centered around the psycrystals, thus you could use psi teleport on a crystal of yours and have 0% chance of mishap.

edit: forgot about psycrystal containment feat...maybe have the class only able to use it with half of it's crystals at any given time (in this case, 1 at level 1 in the prc, 2 at level 3, and 3 at level 5.)

This may work, I'll have to look at it. depends on how that connects with Thrallherd.

Edit: a 5 lvl PrC would work, as it would be a 1 - 20 progression with Thrallherd and this new PrC. I wouldn't want to lose more than one ML, cause that would mean I'd miss out on 9th level powers.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
cnahumck 11-02-07, 05:09 PM	I am working on a character that is a Seer in a military campaign. He is a command/recon/communications guy, with followers via the thrallherd PrC. The question is this. Can I take the Psicrystal feat more than once. The rules do not say that I am allowed, but they don't say that I can't either. Personally, I think that you can only do what the rules say you can but I like the concept of sending small units of believers with a psicrystal that can channel powers and view what is happening from afar. Obviously I could houserule it (and I will see if I can) but I wanted to see what the community thought.
Narthon 11-02-07, 05:22 PM	Any feat that you can take more than once states so in its text.
Callix 11-02-07, 08:18 PM	You could, of course, take on believers of psionic races, who could all take Psicrystal Affinity to have their own scouts. Alternatively, if you accept the Psicrystal Feats argument, you could have your psicrystal take Wild Talent and Psicrystal Affinity, and iterate that until you have enough crystals. You could only speak to your crystal, but it could Chinese Whispers down to any given psicrystal, and back up again. The Psicrystal Feats argument is a case of RAW vs RAI; in your case it gives you a loophole to do something cool.
Lokiyn 11-02-07, 08:56 PM	Wild talent, hidden talent and psionic races do not necessarily qualify for psicrystal affinity, none of them grant a manifester level, However there are a few that grant an actual manifester level.
Callix 11-02-07, 09:10 PM	Wild talent, hidden talent and psionic races do not necessarily qualify for psicrystal affinity, none of them grant a manifester level, However there are a few that grant an actual manifester level. Maenads have Energy Ray (Sonic only) as a 1/day SLA, with a minimum ML of 1. So all Maenads qualify for Psicrystal Affinity. Getting an ML for a psicrystal is harder; I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I'm sure there's a way.
Jaid 11-02-07, 10:29 PM	to clarify, you need a manifesting level, not a manifester level. (ie, you need a level in a class that manifests powers).
Bacris 11-02-07, 10:59 PM	to clarify, you need a manifesting level, not a manifester level. (ie, you need a level in a class that manifests powers). Eh, sort of. "Prerequisites: Manifester level 1st." However, psicrystal abilities are based on levels in psionic classes - so if you had a level 20 maenad fighter and allowed his sonic energy ray to qualify for psicrystal, the psicrystal wouldn't have any of its special abilities, because the owner level would be 0 for the purposes of the psicrystal. Interestingly, I can't find any rules in the XPH to support that psionic races with psi-like abilities can't take Psicrystal Affinity...
Arco Versipellis 11-02-07, 11:39 PM	Wouldn't it have a manifester level of 10 for a maenad of level twenty? I though it manifested at one-half hit die with a minumum of one. Hideen Talent doesn't give you a manifester level? That is how I have always considered it since you spend a power point to manifester a power. T may be slack on enforcing psicrystal rules though. I don't really see a reason to enforce them stiffly either.
Lokiyn 11-02-07, 11:43 PM	(This is not a manifester level, and it does not add to any manifester levels gained by taking psionic classes.) If you have no psionic class levels, use Charisma to determine how powerful a power you can manifest and how hard those powers are to resist. ..
Bacris 11-02-07, 11:48 PM	Wouldn't it have a manifester level of 10 for a maenad of level twenty? I though it manifested at one-half hit die with a minumum of one. Psicrystal abilities aren't based on manifester level. They're based on levels in psionic classes. So a psion 10 / metamind 10, despite only having a manifester level of 15 (and sucking), has a psicrystal for a 20th level character. A maenad fighter 20 has no levels in psionic classes, so his psicrystal has none of the special abilities of a psicrystal. Personally, I'd just rule that you have to have an actual level of a manifesting class to eliminate the problems. :P
Arco Versipellis 11-03-07, 02:24 AM	Sorry. I should have read the feat. Still, I don't think I will change the way I rule in my games. Though some homebrew feats, I've allowed soulknives to use psi-like abilities to gain psicrystals, so I think I will just expanded it to cover this, too.
cnahumck 11-04-07, 12:23 PM	Well, after looking at my options, I think what I need is a new Psicrystal feat. So... here goes: Psicrystal Swarm [Psionic] You are able to separate your Psicrystal into independent smaller gems, forming a swarm that can be dispersed as you see fit. Prerequisites: Psicrystal Affinity, Improved Psicrystal taken twice. Benefit: You may, as a full round action, expend your psionic focus to separate your psicrystal into smaller pieces, forming a swarm. Your Psicrystal gains all the benifits of the swarm subtype, and it may use a swarm attack to inflict 1 point of damage to any creature who's space is occupied by the psicrystal swarm. You may also choose to have your psicrystal swarm separate into smaller groups, one for each personality embedded in the psicrystal. The benefits granted by a psicrystal are changed. All the components must be within range for you to use Solicit Psicrystal or Psicrystal Containment. You may use sight link, develop touch powers, sight link, or channel power only through one separate swarm at a time. Switching between active and passive swarms takes a full round action. Passive swarms follow their last instructions and act as that personality would as normal. They may contact the owner if threated or in need of help. Special: If you have Psionic Mediation feat, you may switch between active and passive swarms as a move action, rather than a full round action. So... I know it ain't perfect, but what does the community think? I wanted something balanced, so that you couldn't have 7 psionic foci or the ability to blast 5 different sights in one round.
Sagetim 11-04-07, 12:57 PM	I am working on a character that is a Seer in a military campaign. He is a command/recon/communications guy, with followers via the thrallherd PrC. The question is this. Can I take the Psicrystal feat more than once. The rules do not say that I am allowed, but they don't say that I can either. Personally, I think that you can only do what the rules say you can but I like the concept of sending small units of believers with a psicrystal that can channel powers and view what is happening from afar. Obviously I could houserule it (and I will see if I can) but I wanted to see what the community thought. I thought I would bold this text because typo's are funny. Also: if your DM houserules you to be allowed to blow feats on getting more psicrystals, thats up to them. However, why not ask the DM if you can make a PrC for it? maybe call it the crystal master, or the schozophrenic? 5 level prc, each level gives a new psycrystal, and at first and every 2 levels you get the improved psycrystal feat, which applies to all crystals. Full manifesting? or maybe partial manifesting. levels stack with psion for psicrystal powers. or maybe count double or something. strong will, weak fort and ref, crap bab. perhaps have some kind of special ability at level 5. Like...being allowed to use teleport type powers centered around the psycrystals, thus you could use psi teleport on a crystal of yours and have 0% chance of mishap. edit: forgot about psycrystal containment feat...maybe have the class only able to use it with half of it's crystals at any given time (in this case, 1 at level 1 in the prc, 2 at level 3, and 3 at level 5.)
cnahumck 11-04-07, 01:36 PM	I thought I would bold this text because typo's are funny. Stupid spelling... However, why not ask the DM if you can make a PrC for it? maybe call it the crystal master, or the schozophrenic? 5 level prc, each level gives a new psycrystal, and at first and every 2 levels you get the improved psycrystal feat, which applies to all crystals. Full manifesting? or maybe partial manifesting. levels stack with psion for psicrystal powers. or maybe count double or something. strong will, weak fort and ref, crap bab. perhaps have some kind of special ability at level 5. Like...being allowed to use teleport type powers centered around the psycrystals, thus you could use psi teleport on a crystal of yours and have 0% chance of mishap. edit: forgot about psycrystal containment feat...maybe have the class only able to use it with half of it's crystals at any given time (in this case, 1 at level 1 in the prc, 2 at level 3, and 3 at level 5.) This may work, I'll have to look at it. depends on how that connects with Thrallherd. Edit: a 5 lvl PrC would work, as it would be a 1 - 20 progression with Thrallherd and this new PrC. I wouldn't want to lose more than one ML, cause that would mean I'd miss out on 9th level powers.