Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tempest Stormwind 05-30-06, 04:07 PM	Thank you for stopping by! I hope the title caught your attention? Yes, this is the dramatic reveal of the "MADNESS!" project. Thank you for putting up with our teasing this past month. So, what is MADNESS!? In short, MADNESS! is our project code title for something far more impressive, and hardly mad at all. Without further ado, allow me to introduce: UNTAPPED POTENTIAL NEW HORIZONS IN PSIONICS A new sourcebook supporting 3.5 psionics in your games. As of this announcement, we have over 100 pages of actual (crunchy!) material to use in your games, with more material currently under final review. This does NOT count any fluff we're including -- and we're taking an interesting direction with fluff, by the way, while still allowing it to be added to virtually any existing campaign setting (I can't say much on this now, except that the title itself is a hint). Included in the book are: Racial Paragon classes for psionic races Racial Substitution Levels for psionic races (two classes per race, and not all are psionic classes) Two new psionic base classes -- including a much-anticipated full-base-attack manifester -- and a variant psion, the Devoted Psion More than 20 additional feats (psionic, metapsionic, and racial), including a new branch of psionic feat, the Mantra Ten new prestige classes, including the Energist, the Maverick Voidshaper, and the Sighted Seeker Material on psionic organizations, including a psionic NPC class, the Augur Over 45 additional psionic powers for all manifesters An assortment of additional psionic items, including a new class of item (the Crystalic) and the triumphant return of Ferroplasm to 3.5 Several new psionic monsters, including templates, dragons, and one group of monsters suitable for use as an entire campaign focus. Plus a few additional things that I'm deliberately leaving blank for now. Additional material -- including the unusual approach we are taking on flavor text -- will be revealed in time. Disclaimer: A small amount of material from this book has already been seen distributed by the authors of the book (and one contributor who's opted to remain off the author list) on the Wizards of the Coast forums. All such material has been revised and edited, however, and the vast majority is brand-new. We assure you that no material here suffers from the Psionic X, either -- the closest it'll come to that would be designed with the same philosophies, but built from the ground up with psionic rules and flavor in mind. Now, on to a few extra details. This book is being published under the Open Gaming Licence, and as such cannot contain material outside of the SRD unless it has been designated Open Game Content (To answer a question of yours before I get it, no, those won't be the Gem Dragons, as the Monster Manual II and The Mind's Eye are not Open Game Content). Not all material in Untapped Potential is considered Open Game, although a large amount of it is. However, HYPERCONCIOUS: Explorations in Psionics *is* Open Game for the most part, and Untapped Potential will feature support for Hyperconcious. Hyperconcious is not required to enjoy Untapped Potential, though -- in fact, you're perfectly fine altogether ignoring Hyperconcious in whole or in part (for instance, Untapped Potential doesn't contain expanded rules for the Mindscapes system of psionic combat, although it does provide all the information necessary to use the new material with the Mindscapes system). This means that to enjoy the material in this book, you need the Player's Handbook and the Expanded Psionics Handbook, along with the Dungeon Master's Guide and the Monster Manual if you are a DM. Hyperconcious: Explorations in Psionics may also be used, but is not strictly necessary. Untapped Potential is not a replacement for Complete Psionic, although it cannot directly address that book (as Complete Psionic contains no Open Game Content). You may, however, expect to see a 'web enhancement' on these forums dealing with non-OGL psionics material, including Complete Psionic's. While no new races in the book have been introduced, some monsters and templates are suitable for PC use. Untapped Potential makes use of the "devotion" vernacular to clarify the difference between psion type and power discipline. We've included a quick primer for those not familiar with this terminology (similar to the one in the 3.5 Psionics FAQ in my sig). Yes, all devotions have something new and exciting added to them. Some of the options that nomads and seers get will just *blow you away*. Psychic Warriors and both new base classes have their own unique powers in this book as well. There's even some support for the soulknife, ranging from feats and substitution levels to psionic items, although no actual "fixes" have been published (that is, Untapped Potential assumes you use the XPH soulknife). Following Complete Psionic's revisionist approach, we predict some of you may be curious if we've overwritten anything in this book. In a sense, we have -- but it's something people have been complaining about. You can expect to see a full, working, simpler-to-use Polymorph/Metamorphosis approach in this book. The techniques used here can be used to overwrite the existing magic version as well (sample spells have been included), and elements of it can even be drawn into non-polymorph-related aspects of the game. To illustrate this, their mechanics are used in two completely different ways by two of the prestige classes. (While exact details on this approach will have to wait until release, we *will* say this: The fix retains most of the flexibility of the old system while limiting the rate of power acquisition and adding ever-increasing costs. It will also be limited by your actions in-game somewhat. Finally, the magical implementation actually gives sorcerors, rather than wizards, a bit of love.) Suffice it to say, the Metamorphosis and Greater Metamorphosis powers do not exist in this book (and have been replaced on the Egoist list with other powers), and if you like this approach, it also overwrites Alter Self and any spell based off of Alter Self such as Polymorph, Polymorph Any Object, and Shapechange, plus the monomorph spells in the PHB2, such as Trollform. And for the record, because it's a hot topic currently, psicrystals do play a role in several elements of this book, and we do *not* assume that psicrystals get feats. However you already solve the Psicrystal Progression Problem in your games will still work with Untapped Potential (regardless of which side of the debate you side with). Thanks for putting up with us hiding this from you for as long as we did. Now, I know you've got questions. I would too, were I hearing about this just now. Feel free to ask away in this thread -- much of this thread may be lost in the board conversion, though, so we'll be sure to update the common answers on our website. Oh, didn't I tell you? You can check the official website (including author bios) at http://dnd.twinked.org/untappedpotential. At the moment it doesn't have much extra information on this beyond this particular announcement, but more information will come as you ask questions. Some information -- including anything on its distribution -- will be handled on that website, to meet with forum Code of Conduct. The one thing I can say: You can expect to see the online version within two months. Most of that time will be spent playtesting. So, on that note, ask away! We'll field as many as we can, and answer as much as we can without giving everything away. By the way... if you ask really nice, we might release bits of this information early, in preview form. Better ask *real nice*, though (and let us know what section from above you'd be most interested in!). ======================================== ======================================== I went this long without a single edit on the first post, and I won't edit it again pre-launch. But this is critical. Here's a summary of our previews. Preview 1 (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=9285093&postcount=34) Preview 2 (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=9383125&postcount=143) Preview 3 (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=9557114&postcount=199) Also, with this announcement, I'd like to say that our old website link will now redirect you to our new website, Dreamscarred Press (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com). New information is at that site as well, and we'll keep it updated as the deadline fast approaches. Thank you for your time and continued support! It's almost time to explore those new horizons, and I'm glad we won't be alone in finding it exciting. ======================================== ======================================== This is the final edit to this opening post. Untapped Potential has been released! (Actually, a few weeks ago, but I didn't get around to editing this post until now.) The final counts: 170 pages of material (more than that if you count the legal pages). Five racial paragons and ten sets of racial substitution levels (altered for OGL) Two new base classes, the Marksman and the Society Mind, along with a variant psion (the Devoted Psion) 30 new feats (including six racial feats, three metapsionics, and several related to the soulknife, as well as expanded options for Psicrystal Affinity and Craft Cognizance Crystal) plus an additional 16 Mantra feats (a new type of feat relating to gaining psionic focus). Ten new prestige classes: Amalgamist, Anyform Savant, Energist, Enlightened Exemplar, Enlightened Protector, Knight Meditant, Maverick Voidshaper, Phenotype Impressionist, Psicrystal Imprinter and Sighted Seeker. Members of nonpsionic classes (particularly fighters, rogues, monks, rangers, and paladins) may also find some of these options interesting, as well as the regular manifesting classes (naturally) and gish-fans. Included in this chapter are rules that make soulknives work with prestige classes, as well as encourage others to consider at least one level of soulknife. A psionic NPC class (the Augur) and three psionic organizations. 53 new psionic powers, plus expanded options for two existing XPH powers (Attraction and Aversion got new augments). Nomads, previously the red-headed stepchild of the psions, get a LOT of love. A new type of psionic item: The crystalline grafts called Crystalics, which serve to augment your physical capabilities, ranging from extended vision and damage to DR and flight. Also included are psicrowns and a few universal items, and more options for Craft Cognizance Crystal make the feat worth taking: build Impression Crystals for the shapechanging forms, or Mindstones to expand your psionic repotoire. Ferroplasm is also now available in 3.5, and at least one item -- the Ferroplasmic Skin -- makes use of it already. Ten new psionic monsters: The Astral Juggernaut (ridable astral construct), the Ego Dragons (Logos and Pathos dragons), the Voleur (memory thieves), two new psionic constructs (the Crystalline Construct and the Sonic Construct/Walking Warcry), the Mindborn template, and the Nameless Fear -- a monster that can serve as the basis for an entire campaign. (The related creatures, the PC-playable Dreamscarred and the spawnlike Fear Spawn, can be used independently of the Nameless, which advance uniquely and are rules-intensive.) We still plan on expanding the options in here with material that was cut for time, and other ideas we've had since publication. There is also a web enhancement forthcoming, consisting of non-OGL material -- for instance, links to ardents and lurks, thri-kreen and gith, and expanded power lists. Oh, and speaking of... There will be a print version coming, likely in hardcover, complete with professionally-done artwork as well as the expanded OGL material. The PDF versions will continue to be available, and will be updated to match the book as we go. Thank you all for your continued support! I'm glad that this project is being recieved well -- well enough to go to print. To discuss this project in more detail, ask business-related questions, request features to be added to the book, or submit errata, visit our forums at Dreamscarred Press (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com/forums). Ever onward towards victory!
Kresalak 05-30-06, 04:19 PM	Oh. My. God. This sounds absolutely amazing. I really don't know what to say, save that, if this is as good as it sounds, I'll have to get both the PDF and print versions, if print becomes available.
TrinityPower 05-30-06, 04:19 PM	cool.. just... simply... COOL :cool: I havent had the chance to to read through the website totally but new psionic material is always welcome and sought after. I want one... gimme gimme gimme. You are now my idol :bow:
Fargren 05-30-06, 04:19 PM	Tempest, I'm worried. I think I may be falling in love with you. Thank you, thank you, OH THAANK YOU SO VERY MUUCH!!!!!!! Who else in the forums has been working in MADNESS?
Bacris 05-30-06, 04:23 PM	Who else in the forums has been working in MADNESS? Me :)
Thanatos-Omega 05-30-06, 04:33 PM	And here I was thinking You guys were playing us with another class and then I see this......... AND YOU TOTALLY BLOW ME AWAY! Tempest I swear you've just made me a very happy Psion I'm totally gonna look into getting this any way I can. Anyway Tempest, Bacris, DH and I think Radical all worked on this by sig count so you 4 are now my idols, seriously I'd erect a crystalline monument if i hadn't used up all my pP for the day already XD *joke* Seriously though You guys rule and get this published in print so all may enjoy it * and partially so I can show my d and d team what Cpsi should have been XD* You Guys RULE :bow: :clap:
drunkenewok 05-30-06, 04:45 PM	I guess my biggest question: how can I help? I'll happily provide playtesting, statistics runs, text editing, HTML editing, or pretty much any other job you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. I work cheap (read: free) and wouldn't ask more than being able to proudly proclaim my limited assistance on the project (no attribution necessary). Even if I can't get in on the action, this sounds like an excellent resource almost every psionics-fan in existence would love to own.
Seerow 05-30-06, 05:10 PM	It's kind of funny, I actually thought this might be what you were up to just earlier today. Maybe I had a sudden flash into the future... what's the manifester level required to do that again? I don't think I could before =P Edit: Also, am I the only one who read the title of this topic and thought "WHAT IS LOVE?!" Please tell me I'm not alone.
Tempest Stormwind 05-30-06, 05:15 PM	I guess my biggest question: how can I help? I'll happily provide playtesting, statistics runs, text editing, HTML editing, or pretty much any other job you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. I work cheap (read: free) and wouldn't ask more than being able to proudly proclaim my limited assistance on the project (no attribution necessary). Even if I can't get in on the action, this sounds like an excellent resource almost every psionics-fan in existence would love to own. Check your PM box in a second or two. It'll contain MSN contact information for me and my personal response to this one. Suffice it to say I was waiting for this. :p Who else in the forums has been working in MADNESS?Three of us -- Bacris, DisposableHero, and me -- will be handling these questions. There are at least two other primary authors you'll notice from the boards, although names will be announced later at the request of the authors. So, anyone have any specific questions? That's what we're here for.
Seerow 05-30-06, 05:31 PM	Okay, got the other stuff out of my system, something more constructive now. Okay, I notice repeated mentioning of publishing the book. I take it this means you are actually going to be printing and distributing the book? If so, how do you plan to fund this? Or will it all just be posted under your website? If you -are- actually publishing this, and assuming there's room, could I encourage you to place the Soulknife as Feats (Im sure you're familliar with the project as it was in your sig last I checked) as a variant within? I mean, you're already using a variant Psion... the main thing to think about would be how it would interract with any already present Soulknife material you are adding. Also, I'd love to offer my help in playtesting, but I'd have to struggle to put a new party together (or arrange a second meeting time for one of the groups Im already in). I'll get back to you on that if I do work something out though.
Tempest Stormwind 05-30-06, 05:43 PM	Okay, got the other stuff out of my system, something more constructive now. Okay, I notice repeated mentioning of publishing the book. I take it this means you are actually going to be printing and distributing the book? If so, how do you plan to fund this? Or will it all just be posted under your website?Actual publication. More details on this cannot be mentioned without violating the forum CoC -- check the bottom of the page I linked, though, under Distribution Notes. If you -are- actually publishing this, and assuming there's room, could I encourage you to place the Soulknife as Feats (Im sure you're familliar with the project as it was in your sig last I checked) as a variant within? I mean, you're already using a variant Psion... the main thing to think about would be how it would interract with any already present Soulknife material you are adding.We hadn't contacted the authors of that project. Until we speak with the primaries (Angellis Ater and DrunkenEwok) I can't speak on this yet. However, I can say that it probably won't be in the PDF version. The variant psion is a modification to the existing class -- a very minor one, in fact. To compare it to the base psion would be like comparing a specialist wizard to a generalist wizard, or a TWF ranger to an Archery ranger. It's intended as an addition to the class, not a replacement (although mechanically it more closely resembles a variant, it doesn't *replace* the psion any more than the erudite does -- and just like the erudite, can be played alongside psions in your game. Flavorwise it should prove an interesting alternative anyway.). Also, I'd love to offer my help in playtesting, but I'd have to struggle to put a new party together (or arrange a second meeting time for one of the groups Im already in). I'll get back to you on that if I do work something out though.We are not currently taking applications for playtesting, although keep watching this space or the website. Information released here in preview form can be considered stuff we're reasonably sure of, though we wouldn't mind additional testing. There's possibly some HUGE fundamental hole we've all missed.... although this is terribly unlikely, given the number of optimizers working on the project.
Raymond_Luxury_Yacht 05-30-06, 05:45 PM	I can assist, especially on the monster front. I don't have anything better to do with my time.
Nephlite 05-30-06, 05:59 PM	Wow, this sounds sweet. I'll domy best to get a PDF so the print becomes available. But let me say thanks forall the hard work. You guys usually do great in your post and ideas so I'm sure it should be at least better than Complete Psionic(that goes without saying though lol). So will the full bab class have up to 4th, up to 5th, or up to 6th? I have yet to see a up to 4th manifester yet: even Divine Mind and Psychic Rogue got up to 5th. So just wondering.
Tempest Stormwind 05-30-06, 06:13 PM	Wow, this sounds sweet. I'll domy best to get a PDF so the print becomes available. But let me say thanks forall the hard work. You guys usually do great in your post and ideas so I'm sure it should be at least better than Complete Psionic(that goes without saying though lol).Thanks for the vote of confidence. So will the full bab class have up to 4th, up to 5th, or up to 6th? I have yet to see a up to 4th manifester yet: even Divine Mind and Psychic Rogue got up to 5th. So just wondering. At the moment, 5th, although it won't have many such effects and its list will be very limited (note that this base class is one of the ones most likely to change during playtesting, particularly the higher levels).
angellis_ater 05-30-06, 06:39 PM	First of all - wow! Second - I'd be interested to discuss any future inclusion of my and drunkenewoks "Mindblade Feats" project, if he is interested. Thirdly - the full BAB class, where did you take your inspiration from? Both conceptually and mechanically? Paladins, Duskblades, Hexblades or something entirely else? How many of the new feats will deal with Mantra, and what is Mantra?
Bacris 05-30-06, 06:51 PM	Hrm, not sure how much detail we can go into on all those, although I'll try to answer :) Mantra feats are closely tied to psionic meditation, both in expending and in maintaining. There are several mantra feats, and while they are a large part of our total feat count, there are just as many if not more non-mantra feats (I don't have the exact counts on hand atm). The full BAB class, although I've helped with balancing, the inspiration I'm going to have to defer on answering :) I spent most of my time on the paragon & specialty levels, the devoted psion, the prestige classes, and crystalics. Mechanically, we looked to all the base classes, both with casting / manifesting and without, to ensure it will be balanced while also being unique. I'd like to think we did a good job on it, although it is still being tested and tweaked. The devoted psion was my baby and, honestly, almost got cut due to time... but we managed to pull it off and finish it in time :) As Tempest said, it's like Specialist Wizard is to General Wizard, although with differences. You can play both without much of a problem - there are still reasons to play the XPH psion and reasons to play a devoted psion.
angellis_ater 05-30-06, 06:55 PM	Have you done any more advertising? Might I suggest enworld.org to bring more attention to your project? Oh, btw - if you are interested I might help with an easy-to-use CMS if you have the server space. Would make it alot easier for you to update and maintain a website as well as functioning forums. Interested? Drop me a PM. All work would be free of charge, of course.
Tempest Stormwind 05-30-06, 06:55 PM	Thirdly - the full BAB class, where did you take your inspiration from? Both conceptually and mechanically? Paladins, Duskblades, Hexblades or something entirely else?It's something entirely different. And its design -- along with several things in the book, including the metamorph fix -- predate the PHB2 coming out. I'll give you this idea, though. If you compare every single full base attack bonus class published prior to the PHB2 (actually, even after, now that I think about it), you'll see a missing warrior niche. That's where we aimed for. And let me tell you, there's plenty of inspiration for that particular niche that's just sitting there, untouched.... which the title of the book tries to evoke. How many of the new feats will deal with Mantra, and what is Mantra?Bacris answered most of this, but I will say this: There's even mantras for nonpsionic classes here (though they'll need psionic focus to use them). A few can even be taken as Fighter bonus feats. I can't go into any more details here, and I have to leave for work right now. Others may continue where I left off.
Bacris 05-30-06, 06:58 PM	Have you done any more advertising? Might I suggest enworld.org to bring more attention to your project? Not yet. This is the official "reveal". Oh, btw - if you are interested I might help with an easy-to-use CMS if you have the server space. Would make it alot easier for you to update and maintain a website as well as functioning forums. Interested? Drop me a PM. All work would be free of charge, of course. Sorry, CMS?
Bacris 05-30-06, 07:00 PM	Oh, I'd also like to point out that the devoted psion is not one of the 2 new base classes. We have the 2 new base classes AND the devoted psion for a total of 3 base classes. Since the devoted psion is a spin-off of the psion, it isn't really fair to call it "new" :)
angellis_ater 05-30-06, 07:07 PM	Oh, in that case - what is the third base class? CMS - Content Management System. It allows you to enter information much like in this forum and add it as News, Articles and so forth. Alot easier than HTML programming and much more flexible.
Tempest Stormwind 05-30-06, 07:45 PM	Turns out I wasn't actually scheduled, so I can continue here! Oh, in that case - what is the third base class?There's only two, as we've said, plus the variant psion. Some of the sub levels will make you feel totally different, (especially the Soulknife sub levels (which show up in two different races), which are really the only part of the book that *wouldn't* be compatible with the Soulknife As Feats project). The identity of the second is being kept secret for now, though it may be revealed later. I'd like to see your theories.
AdventChild 05-30-06, 07:49 PM	:clap: this is really good. Storm i tried to PM you but it says your inbox is full or something so i will email you some proposals i have for you. For some reason some of my emails dont go into the inbox directly but go into the unwated bin as i call it.
Tleilaxu_Ghola 05-30-06, 08:06 PM	Too bad this book isn't "official WotC." I would probably like to use some of this stuff for contest & build material on the CO boards, but "3rd" party is kind of frowned upon. *le sigh* Perhaps you guys can try to sell the publishing rights to WotC when you are finished? With the proviso that their grubby editing department leave it unscathed... I look forward to seeing some psi-gish related stuff.
InkBlot 05-30-06, 08:08 PM	The identity of the second (base class) is being kept secret for now, though it may be revealed later. I'd like to see your theories. An empathic healer? A bard-like support class? The society mind?
Sithobi1 05-30-06, 08:17 PM	This is an amazing project, and I personally can't believe that you managed to hold it in as long as you did. As others have said, if there's any way I can help on this, just let me know.
Gruffmug 05-30-06, 08:58 PM	Let me know If you have any extra room for new material in this project. I would love to contribute to the project. Gruffmug
MaverickWolf 05-30-06, 09:17 PM	:bows: I'd offer help, but I doubt I'd prove very useful, as I'm sure you've got much of the things I've already made covered (see sig - there's a few psionic things in there). I would like to say that all who have worked on this project will be worshipped as gods for all of eternity. Could you please reveal whether or not crystal hilts or some similar such item will exist within this book (being that there's probably a half a dozen different variations of them laying around). EDIT: Having just checked the authors page, I take that last question back.
Nephlite 05-30-06, 09:29 PM	Hrm, not sure how much detail we can go into on all those, although I'll try to answer :) Mantra feats are closely tied to psionic meditation, both in expending and in maintaining. There are several mantra feats, and while they are a large part of our total feat count, there are just as many if not more non-mantra feats (I don't have the exact counts on hand atm). Are Mantras similar to Combat Focus feats in PHB 2? They do sound very interesting. The devoted psion was my baby and, honestly, almost got cut due to time... but we managed to pull it off and finish it in time :) As Tempest said, it's like Specialist Wizard is to General Wizard, although with differences. You can play both without much of a problem - there are still reasons to play the XPH psion and reasons to play a devoted psion. Well, it should certainly be interesting. Is the change just to manifesting choices or do feats change ala Erudite (he got free Psycrystal Affinity too)?
Deekin 05-30-06, 09:48 PM	So, is there any preview you can give us? But this sounds like a definiate addition to my giant PDF collection.
Bacris 05-30-06, 09:56 PM	Are Mantras similar to Combat Focus feats in PHB 2? They do sound very interesting. Unfortunately, I don't have nor have I even looked at the PHB 2, spending so much time on this project, so I don't know... Well, it should certainly be interesting. Is the change just to manifesting choices or do feats change ala Erudite (he got free Psycrystal Affinity too)? Without giving too much away, he'll put more of a focus on his discipline than a standard psion.
Bacris 05-30-06, 10:00 PM	So, is there any preview you can give us? But this sounds like a definiate addition to my giant PDF collection. It's under discussion :) No guarantees yet, tho!
Tempest Stormwind 05-30-06, 10:01 PM	Are Mantras similar to Combat Focus feats in PHB 2? They do sound very interesting.Seeing as they predate the PHB2's release, this is unlikely. Well, it should certainly be interesting to see how close they get. Is the change just to manifesting choices or do feats change ala Erudite (he got free Psycrystal Affinity too)?It's closer to the psion than the erudite was, although the alterations do span more of the board. The feats remain unchanged, although he does get an extra class feature in the high levels. So, is there any preview you can give us?Working on it, actually. Just a matter of deciding what would be a good cross section without giving away our keys. ;)
DisposableHero_ 05-31-06, 12:13 AM	Yes folks, thats right. Just for you, a tiny taste of the madness yet to come, specially selected to whet your appetite. Half-Giant Soulknife While many soulknives focus on finesse and agility, the half-giant soulknife relies on his brute strength to subdue his enemies. Hit Die: d12 Requirements To take a half-giant soulknife racial specialty level, a character must be a half-giant about to take her 1st, 3rd, or 6th level of soulknife. Class Skills Half-giant soulknife racial specialty levels have the class skills of the standard soulknife class. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier (or four times this number as a beginning character). Class Features All of the following are class features of the half-giant soulknife racial specialty levels. Mind blade: As a standard soulknife, but a half-giant soulknife may create and wield a mind blade one size category larger than normal without penalty due to his powerful build natural ability. If the half-giant soulknife creates the mind blade in a larger shortsword form, it is still treated as a light weapon. Standstill: At 1st level, a half-giant soulknife gains the Standstill feat as a bonus feat. This racial specialty feature replaces the standard soulknife's Wild Talent feat. Since half-giants are naturally psionic, they do not need Wild Talent to create their mind blades. Overpowering Strike: At 3rd level, a half-giant soulknife may focus his strength into an attack to subdue his foe. As a move action, the half-giant soulknife prepares his strike with overpowering psychic energy. The next successful attack the half-giant soulknife makes causes the target to make a Reflex save against a DC of 10 + the damage dealt, or be knocked prone. At 7th level, a half-giant psychic warrior may choose to charge his mind blade with both an overpowering strike and a psychic strike as the same move action. This racial specialty level replaces the psychic strike ability gained at 3rd level by a standard soulknife. Subsequent psychic strike increases are at 1d8 lower (+1d8 at 7th level, +2d8 at 11th level, etc). Roots of Strength (Ex): At 6th level, if a half-giant soulknife occupies the same space for at least one full round, his reach increases by 5’. This effect ends if he leaves his current space. This racial specialty feature replaces the standard soulknife's Speed of Thought feat. Level Base Fort Ref Will Special Attack Save Save Save 1st +0 +2 +2 +2 Mind Blade*, Standstill Weapon Focus (Mind Blade) 3rd +2 +3 +3 +3 Overpowering Strike 6th +4 +5 +5 +5 Roots of StrengthPERSONALITY PURGE [Psionic] Seeking to purify your mind and hone your thoughts, you have expunged an aspect of your mind, moving it permanently into your psicrystal. You cannot simply erase a personality fragment from your psyche, although you can wrench it from your consciousness and place it, in its entirety, in your psicrystal. Prerequisite: Concentration 8 ranks, improved psicrystal. Benefit: Your psicrystal gains an additional personality type from the list below, altering its behaviour accordingly (and thus possibly turning it into an antagonist, although it still willingly and totally serves you). As a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity, you may touch your psicrystal and reclaim the lost aspect of your mind. Doing so grants you a powerful benefit (as this negative aspect of your mind is amplified by the crystal), but comes with a serious drawback unique to each personality. Severing contact with the psicrystal is a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity and requires a Concentration check at DC20 (retry allowed), as the psicrystal resists the loss of control. Special: You may take this feat multiple times. If you do, you may activate multiple contact benefits when touching the psicrystal by spending a standard mental action that provokes attacks of opportunity. Each separate antagonistic personality must be severed individually; the DC for the concentration check increases by 2 for each additional personality you have in contact. AGGRESSIVE By transferring your desire to end lives to your psicrystal, you liberate your thoughts to more philosophical matters. Your crystal, however, becomes a murderous little bugger, and is likely to carry a knife and cut the bodies of the fallen while urging you to kill some more. Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to your armor class. Removing your aggressive traits allows you to fight more defensively. Contact: You thirst for battle, overcome by your formerly severed aggression. This allows you to continue fighting without penalty while at or below 0 hit points, and even to survive below -10 hit points. Add your key manifesting ability modifier to 10 to determine how far below 0 hit points you can reach before dying. For example, a psion with an Intelligence score of 16 would die at -13 hit points instead of -10. However, your bloodlust corrupts your mind, and forces you to attack the nearest targets in melee -- friend or foe. At the start of your turn, make a Will save -- if you beat DC 15, you are able to distinguish between friend or foe this round, and if you beat DC20, you may attack without resorting to melee (to manifest a power, for instance). The DC for this check drops by 10 when not in combat. Sever: The DC to sever your aggression post-contact increases by 5 if you have delivered the killing blow to any creature in the last hour when not in contact with your psicrystal. So far, there are three other personality types to choose from, but you'll have to wait to see what they are :D Mantras As the psionic arts developed, different ways of meditating were discovered. Students of one master may learn completely different ways of centering their minds and bodies in a state of psionic focus than acolytes at a different school. Certain techniques of meditation, however, actively engage the psionic energy of becoming focused and apply it to the world around them. Students particularily adept at these "psionic mantras" may even manifest minor psionic effects when they focus themselves -- effects reflected in Mantra feats. Mantra feats are psionic feats that provide no bonus until you meditate you gain your psionic focus (which may require a more difficult concentration check than normal) at which point they engage a supernatural effect for a set duration. If you expend your psionic focus during a Mantra’s effect, the mantra end’s immediately. Characters may only benefit from a single mantra feat a time. PRESENCE OF THE MASTER [Psionic, Mantra] The combination of your martial prowess and psionic talents make you a terrifying opponent and you know how to use your supernatural edge to unnerve even the most stubborn foes. Prerequisites: Intimidate 11 ranks, Base attack bonus +6 Benefit: To activate presence of the master you must meditate to gain psionic focus. Once activated this mantra lasts for 1 minute as long as you maintain psionic focus. When active you may attempt to demoralize an opponent in combat using the intimidate skill as a free action once per round. During this mantra, you may expend your psionic focus as a swift action to attempt to demoralize all foes within a 20 foot radius of yourself, if you succeed, these foes are shaken for 1d6 rounds instead of 1. Special: A fighter who meets the prerequisites may select this feat as one of his fighter bonus feats SPIRIT OF THE ATTUNED [Psionic, Mantra] You are naturally predisposed to handling energy. Prerequisite: Manifester level 5, ability to manifest an energy power. Benefit: When you gain psionic focus, you may select one of the four energy types: cold, electricity, fire, sonic. As long as you maintain your psionic focus, you are attuned to this energy and gain a +4 bonus to saving throws against effects of your selected energy type. You may expend your psionic focus as an immediate action to instead gain resistance to your attuned energy type. Your resistance is equal to character level. Special: While you have an attuned energy, you lose the ability to manifest of the opposing energy types: cold opposes fire, electricity opposes sonic.ASTRAL JUGGERNAUT Metacreativity (Creation) Level: Shaper 9 Display: Material, Visual Manifesting Time: 1 round Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Effect: One created Astral Juggernaut Duration: 1 minute (D) Saving Throw: None Power Resistance: No Power Points: 17, XP The apex of the Shaper's prowess of astral construction, this power creates a gargantuan engine of destruction -- an astral juggernaut (see Chapter 9: Monsters). It appears where you designate and acts immediately, on your turn. It attacks your opponents to the best of its ability. As a free action, you can mentally direct it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions. An astral juggernaut acts normally on the last round of the power's duration and dissipates at the end of its turn. Astral juggernauts are not summoned; they are created on the plane you inhabit (using ectoplasm drawn from the Astral Plane). Thus, they are not subject to effects that hedge out or otherwise affect outsiders; they are constructs, not outsiders. Astral juggernauts are immensely difficult to create, and as such you may only have one astral juggernaut in existence at any given time. Manifesting the power again while one is already in your service causes the existing juggernaut to dissipate instantly. Astral juggernauts can serve as protective shells for their creators; doing so also allows the creator to channel additional psionic energy into special combat options. XP COST: 500 xp. DUELING GROUND Psychoportation (Teleportation) Level: Psychic Warrior 6, Nomad 7 Display: Visual Manifesting Time: 1 Standard Action Range: Touch Targets: You and touched creature Duration: 5 rounds (D) Saving Throw: Will Negates Power Resistance: Yes Power Points: Psychic Warrior 11, Nomad 13 If the touched creature fails a will save, you and that creature are teleported to a psychoplane coexistent with the plane you were on. The plane spans a 40 foot radius sphere centered on you and looks like the area you were previously in, though slightly out of focus, as if in a dream. At the boundary of this plane there is a shimmering energy field through which you can observe the events going on in the plane you were on normally, though neither you nor the touched creature can physically cross this barrier. In addition, teleportation effects cannot cross the barrier unless they are normally capable of crossing planar barriers (such as plane shift). Back on the plane you were on observers see a shimmering outline of you and the touched creature for the duration of the power. A successful Dispel Psionics targeted on this shimmer transports you and the touched creature back to the plane you were on, as does dismissing the power. If either you or the touched creature should die, the other is immediately transported back to the plane on which the power was manifested. If you leave the psychoplane the touched creature is teleported back to its original location and the power ends. When manifesting Dueling Ground you may touch an existing shimmer to transport yourself into the existing Psychoplane. Nomads who manifest this power can aesthetically change the appearance of the psychoplane, though it retains the major terrain features of the area in which it was manifested. Many nomads choose to add features that mimic their mindscapes. In addition, Nomads who manifest this power may choose to make it artificially hostile to other creatures. Creatures other than the manifester take 1d6 points of damage per round they remain in the psychoplane as they are attacked by the stuff of the manifester’s nightmares (this may manifest in numerous ways, blazing fires, trees growing limbs and attacking, or other similar effects, but is always 1d6 points of damage per round). Augment: This power may be augmented in one or more of the following ways: 1. For 4 additional power points all creatures in the psychoplane are subject to a dimensional anchor effect, and may not leave via planar teleportation effects such as planeshift. In addition planar teleportation effects cannot be used to enter the psychoplane, though creatures manifesting dueling ground on the shimmer can still enter normally. 2. For an additional 2 power points this power may affect an addition touched creature. 3. Nomads who manifest this power may spend an additional 2 power points to increase the damage dealt to others in the plane by 1d6 damage per round. For every 2 power points spent augmenting this power, the save DC increases by 1. EPHEMERAL BOLT Metacreativity (Creation) and Psychoportation [Force] Level: MFBACM* 2, Psychic Warrior 2 Display: Material Manifesting time: 1 standard action Range: 0ft Effect: One ectoplasmic bolt, arrow, or sling bullet Duration: 1 min/level Saving Throw: None Power Resistance: No Power Points: 3 You coalesce partially-formed ectoplasm into 1d4 arrows, crossbow bolts, or sling bullets appropriate to your size, and encase it in a field of force. Ammunition created this way is considered masterwork (+1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls, no direct bonus on damage rolls). Ephemeral ammunition has a delayed-delivery effect: After being fired, the bolt phases out of the material plane and onto the Ethereal Plane. It still embeds itself in the target as normal (if it hits a corporeal target), but the effect is not terribly obvious -- the bolt does no damage, and there's no entry wound. At any point during the power's duration, as a swift action, you may order any or all of the bolts to return to the Material plane, at which point they deliver their full normal damage +1d4 Force damage before dissipating back to their constituent ectoplasmic particles. MFBACMs* frequently use this power to deliver poison as well as its usual effects. As a side property of the phasing effect, ephemeral bolts can be used to attack creatures on the Ethereal plane while you stand on the material plane, provided you can see onto the Ethereal plane. Used this way, the bolts lose their delayed-delivery property and are treated as normal. You can also use this power to attack the material plane while on the ethereal plane, although the bolts do not phase in this situation either. If used to attack an incorporeal target, the bolts do 1d4 points of force damage. Augment: You may augment this power in one or both of the following ways: 1. For every 2 additional power points spent, the force damage dealt by this power increases by 1d4, and the enhancement bonus on attack rolls increases by 1. 2. If you spend 3 additional power points, the enhancement bonus on attack rolls applies to damage rolls as well. * - Mysterious Full Base Attack Class of Mystery (you didn't really think we'd give away a gem like that on the first go did you ;))Astral Juggernaut Gargantuan Construct Hit Dice: 24d10+60 (192 hp) Initiative: +0 Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares) Armor Class: 31 (–4 size, +0 Dex, +25 natural), touch 16, flat-footed 31 Base Attack/Grapple: +18/+46 Attack: Slam +30 melee (4d6+16) Full Attack: 2 slams +30 melee (4d6+16) Space/Reach: 20 ft./20 ft. Special Attacks: Ectoplasmic salvo Special Qualities: Three Astral Construct abilities from Menu C, construct traits, damage reduction 10/-, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, carry master, master’s enhancements Saves: Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +8 Abilities: Str 43, Dex 11, Con -, Int -, Wis 11, Cha 10 Skills: - Feats: - Environment: Any Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 15 Treasure: None Alignment: Always neutral Advancement: - Level Adjustment: - A hulking mass of silvery ectoplasm the size of a small inn surges to its feet before you. Vaguely humanoid in shape, this titan is largely transparent. Under its opaque hide, you can see psionic energy coursing through silvery threads that wind and cluster all throughout its body. Astral juggernauts are extremely powerful astral constructs brought into existence by the astral juggernaut power. Powered by an advanced psychokinetic mechanical system, an astral juggernaut is in nearly every way more powerful and dangerous than a normal astral construct. Astral juggernauts generally appear as enormous humanoid forms composed of ectoplasm, although each one’s appearance can vary according to the whims of its creator. The creator of an astral juggernaut can craft and shape its appearance just as he could with an astral construct (see page 185 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook). An astral juggernaut is usually 50 feet tall and weighs 30,000 pounds. COMBAT Astral juggernauts act as directed by their creators. Carry Master: The creator of an astral juggernaut can enter a space within the juggernaut, from where he can find protection and grant the juggernaut a number of benefits. The creator must be able to touch the juggernaut. Entering the juggernaut is a full round action for the creator. Only the manifester who created the astral juggernaut can enter the juggernaut in this way. Once inside the juggernaut, the creator is stored in a special compartment. He can breathe normally while inside, and can see and hear anything the juggernaut can (this includes the juggernaut’s darkvision and low-light vision). While the creator cannot be targeted by melee or ranged attacks (the space is completely contained giving him full cover), he is still vulnerable to any structural damage the juggernaut takes. When inside the juggernaut, the creator takes 1 point of damage for every 10 points of damage the juggernaut takes. The creator cannot move around inside the juggernaut. Exiting the juggernaut is a full-round action for the creator. If the juggernaut dissipates or is destroyed while the creator is inside, he may appear in any space the juggernaut occupied of his choice. The creator cannot be targeted or affected by powers or spells normally while inside the juggernaut, although powers enhanced with the Burrowing Power metapsionic feat can pass through the juggernaut to affect the creator inside. Likewise, the creator cannot affect targets outside of the juggernaut without use of the Burrowing Power metapsionic feat. The creator can use the juggernaut to deliver powers with a range of ‘Touch’, though. To do this, the astral juggernaut must either spend a standard action (in addition to the actions the creator took to manifest the power) to touch the target, or deliver the power through one of its natural attacks. Ectoplasmic Salvo (Su): If inside an astral juggernaut (see Carry Master, above), the creator can expend psionic power to blast enemies with bolts of psychokinetically charged ectoplasm. To fire an ectoplasmic salvo, the creator must spend a full round action. Activating the weapon requires the creator to expend power points, at least 1 per activation but no more per activation than the creator’s manifester level. For each power point spent, the ectoplasmic salvo does 1d10 force damage to a single target (if the creator spent 16 power points, that target would take 16d10 points of force damage, and so on). The creator must make a ranged touch attack to hit the target, although he may use the astral juggernaut’s base attack bonus in place of his own, and the modifier of his main manifesting stat (Int for psions) in place of his Dexterity modifier. Ectoplasmic Salvo has a maximum range of 200 feet. Alternatively, the creator can choose to target multiple targets with a single use of the ectoplasmic salvo. This requires making ranged touch attacks for each individual target, and the dice of damage are divided up between targets as the creator sees fit. For example, if the creator spent 18 pp on the ability and decided to target three creatures, he could choose to deal 6d10 damage to all three, or 7d10 to two targets and 4d10 to the third, or any other combination adding up to no more than 18d10 damage. The creator must decide how the damage is divided before making the ranged touch attack rolls. Master’s Enhancements (Su): If inside an astral juggernaut (see Carry Master, above), the creator can expend psionic power to make the juggernaut more powerful. Enhancing the juggernaut in any of the following ways is a full round action for the creator. Power points may only be spent on one Master’s Enhancements option per round. Metaphysical Slam: The creator channels power into the juggernaut’s natural weapons. The astral juggernaut’s natural weapon attacks gain a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls for every 3 power points the creator spends. This effect lasts as long as the juggernaut does. Metaphysical Defense: The creator channels power into the juggernaut’s psionic defense systems. The astral juggernaut gains a +1 insight bonus to AC and all its saving throws for every 3 power points the creator spends. This effect lasts as long as the juggernaut does. Rapid Repair: The creator channels power into repairing damage the juggernaut has sustained. The astral juggernaut is healed 5 points of damage for every 1 power point the creator spends. Awesome Force: The creator channels power into the impact of the juggernaut’s strikes. The astral juggernaut gains the Awesome Blow feat (Monster Manuel Page 303), even if it does not possess the prerequisites. This costs the creator 5 power points. A creator may not spend more power points on any use of these abilities than his manifester level. CREATING AN ASTRAL JUGGERNAUT Creating an astral juggernaut is very similar to creating an astral construct – including selecting menu choices when manifesting the astral juggernaut power. See page 185 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook for more information. An astral juggernaut has three abilities of the manifester’s choice from Astral Construct Menu C, which can each (as usual) be swapped for two Menu B options, which can in turn each be swapped for two Menu A options at the manifester’s choice. An astral juggernaut, however, is not an astral construct. While all menu options still operate for it, feats and powers that specifically modify astral constructs (such as the Durable Construct feat or stabilize construct) do not affect astral juggernauts. The only exceptions are the Boost Construct feat and ecto protection (or similar abilities at the DM’s option). unfortunately it appears as though this will not make the snapshot deadline, so I'll likely be reposting it after the boards upgade. Disclaimer: All information here is subject to change if playtesting should illuminate problems with it as it stands now.
Seerow 05-31-06, 12:41 AM	Wow, just wow. 1) The Half Giant Soulknife is really what I felt the Half Giant should have gotten out of the soulknife to begin with. (At least the first level ability). Roots of Strength is definitely nice though. 2) Not sure what to make of the feats... I assume Personality Purge has more uses than just the one that was given as an example with the feat. And the other two I don't want to say much about until I see more Mantra feats. I can see how they could be useful, but yeah. 3) Dueling Ground just struck me as "Omg Awesome". Mostly because it's something that's been at the back of my mind ever since finishing Episode 6 of The Way (www.crestfallen.us if you haven't heard of it), and while I don't see it as really useful, it does seem like something I could have a lot of fun with just as a character quirk. Calling people out to a one on one showdown. (Actually it'd be really fun in Gestalt with a Knight, as it would fit that flavor really well) Ephimeral Bolt looks nice too... but is it just me or is it a better version of Arcane Archer's phase arrow? Not that I'm complaining, Arcane Archer is generally pretty weak, but if I'm reading it right that's more or less what it is. Astral Juggernaut... is it just me or does this turn high level Shapers into Gundam pilots? Also, I assume that for the purposes of this book the Astral Construct Nerf from Complete Psi is nonexistant? PS: You guys still rock for posting anything at all before releasing the PDF. I'll be sure to get a copy even if I end up having to mail my money =P (*insert complaining about lack of credit card for Paypal here*)
Deekin 05-31-06, 12:45 AM	This just jumped from look at to a must buy the moment it comes out!! Mmm, Astral Juggernaut used as a siege weapon. I so am working that into a plot.
Tempest Stormwind 05-31-06, 12:58 AM	Astral Juggernaut... is it just me or does this turn high level Shapers into Gundam pilots? Also, I assume that for the purposes of this book the Astral Construct Nerf from Complete Psi is nonexistant?1) CPsi isn't OGL, therefore it doesn't exist as far as Untapped Potential is described. 2) Funny you'd say that. The original author of that ability described it to me in three words before I got the rules text: "Summon Ectoplasmic Gundam". It's closer to an elemental monolith in power, though it can't be that strong without Master's Augments involved. By the way, on Duelling Ground: While it's obvious that's the intended use of the power, note how flexibile it is otherwise. Imagine it as a sort of short-duration Psionic Rope Trick or a psywar's Time Hop and you'll get a few new ideas on what to do with it. (I have a few expansion ideas on my own for it, but they haven't been discussed yet, so I have to keep quiet on them for now. Pay close attention to how the nomads shape their psychoplanes, for instance.) I'll refrain from commenting on the other ones for now, lest I give too much away.
DisposableHero_ 05-31-06, 01:01 AM	2) Not sure what to make of the feats... I assume Personality Purge has more uses than just the one that was given as an example with the feat. And the other two I don't want to say much about until I see more Mantra feats. I can see how they could be useful, but yeah.So far we have 4 personalities worked out for Personality Purge, some still need a little tweaking, aggressive was the consensus choice for the preview personality
Seerow 05-31-06, 01:06 AM	Alas, what's the point of me making many comments if I can't get you to let little details slip? =( 1) I had figured as much, but I don't keep up with what Wizards posts online, so for all I knew they could have put the errata from Complete Psi into their official Errata. 2) Well the comparison is just begging to be made. Climb up inside a huge construct and shoot force beams at things? =P 3) I hadn't thought of that. I guess you could touch an ally and just go to an untouchable plane for 5 rounds to do whatever. I was liking the power enough for just the fun potential of it... now I'm seeing it as a good power for most manifesters capable of taking it. (Though I imagine with this publication feat slots become much more precious to manifesters, thus making it less likely to see everyone and their mother spending a feat to get the power)
DisposableHero_ 05-31-06, 01:09 AM	3) I hadn't thought of that. I guess you could touch an ally and just go to an untouchable plane for 5 rounds to do whatever. I was liking the power enough for just the fun potential of it... now I'm seeing it as a good power for most manifesters capable of taking it. (Though I imagine with this publication feat slots become much more precious to manifesters, thus making it less likely to see everyone and their mother spending a feat to get the power)If the debate rages in your mind as to if you take the power or not with no obvious conclusion, then as designers, we've done our job right.
InkBlot 05-31-06, 01:15 AM	The idea of a dual-discipline power disconcerts me. It's very inelegant. Why not simply make it a psychoportative power which allows any kind of ammunition to phase, or a metacreativity power which creates explosive incorporeal ammunition?
Tempest Stormwind 05-31-06, 01:19 AM	The idea of a dual-discipline power disconcerts me. It's very inelegant. Why not simply make it a psychoportative power which allows any kind of ammunition to phase, or a metacreativity power which creates explosive incorporeal ammunition? As the author to that power, I'll put this one to rest *right now* before additional concerns arise. In the draft, that is highlighted. Which means it will change in the final version. I just couldn't decide which one to go for (it won't change much either way except in one special case with expanded knowledge that I can't spread details on). There are no dual-discipline powers in the book itself, unless you count ones we haven't decided on yet (Ephemeral Bolt is a great example of this latter case; it started as a "secret bullet" themed effect and eventually developed into a cross between that and a transdimensional attack for classes generally weak against incorporeal beasties). [For the record, I'm leaning more towards psychoportation and making the bolts pure force in theme, but issues more pressing than minor flavor concerns on a single power have been occupying my time of late. I'm sure you'll understand.]
Seerow 05-31-06, 01:22 AM	If the debate rages in your mind as to if you take the power or not with no obvious conclusion, then as designers, we've done our job right. Ah, but the debate doesn't rage in MY mind, as far as personal tastes go, I think any Psion I make will have the power. Just because I like it. Now does any -normal- person take this power with any manifester they run? Who knows?
WyvernSlayer 05-31-06, 02:18 AM	Although I do not know many people who use 3rd party material in their games, at least what you guys are doing looks to be of excellence, and I hope it does well. If any of you know me from the past, I would always be willing to lend my expertise with any playtesting or design. -Slayer.
Linkrulesx10 05-31-06, 02:22 AM	Hmm... I have just one sylable to say... WOW... I am really looking forward to this book when t comes out and is released, i wish I could contribute someway but alas what could I do...
InkBlot 05-31-06, 02:29 AM	I just couldn't decide which one to go for (it won't change much either way except in one special case with expanded knowledge that I can't spread details on). There are no dual-discipline powers in the book itself, unless you count ones we haven't decided on yet (Ephemeral Bolt is a great example of this latter case; it started as a "secret bullet" themed effect and eventually developed into a cross between that and a transdimensional attack for classes generally weak against incorporeal beasties). [For the record, I'm leaning more towards psychoportation and making the bolts pure force in theme, but issues more pressing than minor flavor concerns on a single power have been occupying my time of late. I'm sure you'll understand.] Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding. I'm very glad you're not using dual disciplines. Dual school spells were one of the few things in PHII that I realy detested. If you want my opinion, it should be a metacreativity power. You're making the bolts, and the bolts just have those properties. Since ectoplasm is the wonder material that can do anything if you put your mind to it, it's not realy off-flavor. It also doesn't have to be a force effect per se. Many other ectoplasmic powers, such as wall of ectoplasm and ectoplasmic caccoon, mimic force effects in their properties (mainly extending onto the ethereal plane). There are also powers which create semi-real or insubstantial ectoplasm, namely ectoplasmic shambler and concealing amorpha. Astral construct used to create an anethemic carapace is the only power I can remember which creates actual explosive ectoplasm, but many others describe using "unstable ectoplasm." Of course, it's your power and the power's description could be changed to reflect a psychoportative nature. You guys are doing a great job with this book. I look forward to purchasing the PDF as soon as it's available.
Tempest Stormwind 05-31-06, 02:46 AM	Thanks for the input; no offense taken. I do need to note (as DisposableHero's hit the sack, and I'm about to) that there's a slight error in the preview. The Half-Giant Soulknife should have the same saving throws as the standard soulknife. (The table in the draft appears to have been templated from one of the monk sub-level tables). More than this I can't say, as I'm tired and might let more slip than I intend. EDIT: One final note, which I cannot stress enough upon glancing over these replies (though not directed to anyone in particular): Do not give me all the credit here. I am but one of many authors involved in this. If anything, first billing should go to Bacris, who's been compiling our ramblings and keeping everything organized. This would be a totally different project today if he wasn't 'at the helm' so to speak.
Dipteran_Legacy 05-31-06, 03:21 AM	while my curiousity is piqued, and I am glad to hear that the full-bab class is going to have a much different feel than the current ones(ah, poor soulborn....you could have been so good, yet turned out so mediocre....) you guys arent going to totally win me over until I can actually check out the mechanics involving said class. if you feel a full-twenty level preview would give away too much, mayhaps just a preview of the first five levels, to let us know what it is, and the basic gist of how it works? in any case, congrats and goodluck
Soel Griffin 05-31-06, 03:45 AM	I am interested in the Mantras, as I am about to start up my campaign world featuring heavy influence from vedic India. Any influence from thataways, or is a fialry different take on them, ala Incarnum's use of chakras?
smrtgmp 05-31-06, 05:42 AM	Looks very cool. I'm more than happy to help with anything. After all, I've got lots of free time*. :) *exciting life of a gimp, and all that
Bacris 05-31-06, 07:33 AM	Ah, but the debate doesn't rage in MY mind, as far as personal tastes go, I think any Psion I make will have the power. Just because I like it. Now does any -normal- person take this power with any manifester they run? Who knows? So every psion will be a shaper? :) It's 9th level shaper only, no expanded knowledge for you pre-epic!
Bacris 05-31-06, 07:37 AM	EDIT: One final note, which I cannot stress enough upon glancing over these replies (though not directed to anyone in particular): Do not give me all the credit here. I am but one of many authors involved in this. If anything, first billing should go to Bacris, who's been compiling our ramblings and keeping everything organized. This would be a totally different project today if he wasn't 'at the helm' so to speak. You work with enough project managers, you pick up a few things :) You guys have made it fairly easy, tho, giving me material to basically just drop in without a problem. And I was happy to do it :) And I'm not going to make any claim to a giant portion of the content. We've all contributed a goodly amount of content. Admittedly, my work on feats and powers was mostly limited to editting / balancing / acting as a sounding board. But it would definitely have not turned out as well as it has without the contributions of everyone involved.
Bacris 05-31-06, 07:39 AM	I am interested in the Mantras, as I am about to start up my campaign world featuring heavy influence from vedic India. Any influence from thataways, or is a fialry different take on them, ala Incarnum's use of chakras? While I don't believe that's the main influence, they could easily fit in such a setting. I'll have to defer on the firm answer to DH, as he came up with the mantra concept. One thing we've labored to do is make this material campaign-neutral. Even the flavor material we're adding is going to be campaign-neutral, so making it feel like an "Indian" theme shouldn't be too difficult.
Bacris 05-31-06, 07:42 AM	while my curiousity is piqued, and I am glad to hear that the full-bab class is going to have a much different feel than the current ones(ah, poor soulborn....you could have been so good, yet turned out so mediocre....) you guys arent going to totally win me over until I can actually check out the mechanics involving said class. if you feel a full-twenty level preview would give away too much, mayhaps just a preview of the first five levels, to let us know what it is, and the basic gist of how it works? Maybe once we're further toward a finished product, we'll likely put together another preview. Remember that right now, we're still doing play-testing / balancing / editting, so much of the content will need to be tweaked / rebalanced. That plus this guy is pretty big and, with only one other new base class, a lot for us to give away :) 5-level might work. in any case, congrats and goodluck Thanks!
angellis_ater 05-31-06, 07:48 AM	Not to nag or anything, but if you want help setting up a modular and easily maintained website, gimme a holler. Now, onto the more advanced questions: 1. Is the "Mantra" notation particular, does it give a cumulative bonus dependent on the number of Mantra feats you have? 2. Would it be possible to see a preview of which psionic races get which sub-classes? As in "Half-Giant Soulknife" and so forth?
Ra-Tiel 05-31-06, 07:49 AM	Hi. === Nice... indeed very nice... :D First I'd like to say that this looks suspiciously like my suggestions in one of the first CPsi-critical threads for a "The Real Complete Psionics". :P Second, I'd like to make some comments on topics that - if my eyes don't fool me - haven't been adressed so far: What are you going to do about the soulknife and - especially - the wilder? In my opinion sub levels and feats are no effective way to counteract the horrible (and sometimes outright broken) design WotC did with those two classes. Also, while a wilder/soulknife is spending feats on making his class just worthwhile, other characters are spending feats to make their classes really great and powerful. Are you including more epic material? Like more epic manifesting feats, focus feats, psionic feats? Perhaps even a version of Epic Psionic Focus whose wording is not as :censored: up like the original one's? What about epic-level astral constructs? Epic psionic monsters? Premade epic powers? Perhaps a unique epic manifestation system, or at least expending the seed system from ELHb with some unique psionic factors? Epic psionic PrCs? Just a comment on the astral juggernaut. I really like the flavor and the appearance of this power/monster, but I have a few issues with it. First, I'm not sure if it makes sense to have the creator take damage while inside the AJ. After all, the construct is effectively granting full cover from the outside world. I see where you are coming from (the myth aka game balance), but it just strikes me as unnecessary, even more when you consider that the manifester has already spent at least one full-round action entering the AJ and only manifest at reduced efficiency with Burrowing Power - and not at all without the feat. I know it's at most 19 points, but still... Second, I think the "Ectoplasmic Salvo" ability is a bit off. First, it is extremely expensive, considering the cost of the astral construct at first, and then a 1d10/pp ratio. In my opinion upping the menu C choice "Concussion" to become more powerful when selected for an AJ would make more sense and be much more elegant - if just because psionics has no precidence for splitting the damage dice pool. Perhaps something like Augmented Concussion (Ps): If the menu C choice Concussion is selected for an astral juggernaut, the psi-like ability's manifester level becomes that of the astral juggernaut's creator's manifester level. This would give it a kinda powerful ranged attack (pre-epic topping out at 9d6 force damage per round) and allow a reasonable spreading of the damage as per concussion blast's augmentation. Additionally, I just think that using the AJ's BAB for the salvo attack is plain wrong. There is - AFAIK - no similar ability, and it doesn't even make sense as BAB is meant to represent one's own combat training. Don't get me wrong, the basic idea is very cool, but I think your implementation is not very rules conform and "unelegant". Why not just give the manifester a +4 competence bonus on all attack rolls when he's taking control of the AJ in addition to the AJ's ability modifiers if they are higher than the psion's? Third, the "Master's Enhancements" strike me as being a little too expensive. Considering the costs, I can see AJ being a real sinkhole for PPs, perhaps even a psion bleeding many level 9 powers' worth of points into it [17(base) + 18(metaphysical slam) + 18(metaphysical defense) + 5(awesome force) = 58(total)] for relatively little gain, compared to what an arcane caster can get with eg summon elemental monolith. Why not include them as augmentation for the basic power? Like Augment: For every additional PP you spend on this power, the astral juggernaut gains a +3 insight bonus to AC. For every additional PP you spend on this power, the astral juggernaut gains a +3 insight bonus to attack and damage rolls. For every additional PP you spend on this power, the astral juggernaut gainst fast healing 3. If you spend an additional PP on this power, the astral juggernaut gains Awesome Blow as a bonus feat. Fourth, do you really think that short a duration is necessary? 1 minute seems to be kind of stingy, especially considering how many PPs a psion could potentially blow on the power. Creating the AJ, upping it's attack and defense a little, and using the salvo a few times and you're looking at perhaps 60, 70 or even more PPs spent. I don't think that 1 round/level would hurt very much. Also, that change would prevent this power from quickly falling out of game in epic levels (and if just keep up a little with the uncapped gate). Fifth, there's an small error (probably a typo) in the AJ's statblock: the touch AC should read "6", not "16". ;) And last but not least, I think you should include a clause in "Carry Master" or give a special ability similar to Shared Saves (Ex): While the astral juggernaut is carrying its master it uses his base saves or it's own, whichever are higher. It does not, however, gain any other bonus its master gains, eg from its master's cloak of resistance. or Dismissal Resistance (Ex): The astral juggernaut gains a +8 resistance bonus on all Will saves against dismiss ectoplasm. This would at least mitigate the factor that an AJ is a "piece of cake" target for dismiss ectoplasm. This weakness is really a strong decisive factor for the psion who must even more carefully consider if it's worth spending all that PPs on his AJ if it can be removed from combat that easily. Another question... what is the main "target audience" of Untapped Potential? Is it intended to also offer options for not primarily psionic characters (aka "A guide to psionics for all classes"), with PrCs similar to Pyrokineticist or Warmind? Or is it intended to focus on already manifesting characters? That's all for so far, and it looks really promising. If I was WotC, I would try to hire you. ;) === Greetings, _Ra-Tiel.
Bacris 05-31-06, 08:43 AM	while I'm not Tempest or DH, I am one of the authors, so I'll answer what I can :) First I'd like to say that this looks suspiciously like my suggestions in one of the first CPsi-critical threads for a "The Real Complete Psionics". :P It's funny. We all approached each other around this time independently and said "let's make something better than what Complete Psionic is". Second, I'd like to make some comments on topics that - if my eyes don't fool me - haven't been adressed so far: What are you going to do about the soulknife and - especially - the wilder? In my opinion sub levels and feats are no effective way to counteract the horrible (and sometimes outright broken) design WotC did with those two classes. Also, while a wilder/soulknife is spending feats on making his class just worthwhile, other characters are spending feats to make their classes really great and powerful. We do not have a wilder or soulknife "fix", although we do have new material for both. If you're looking for a true fix, I'm afraid as of right now, we do not have that for either class. Are you including more epic material? Like more epic manifesting feats, focus feats, psionic feats? Perhaps even a version of Epic Psionic Focus whose wording is not as :censored: up like the original one's? What about epic-level astral constructs? Epic psionic monsters? Premade epic powers? Perhaps a unique epic manifestation system, or at least expending the seed system from ELHb with some unique psionic factors? Epic psionic PrCs? We do have some epic material, although the majority of our content is aimed at levels 1-20. Just a comment on the astral juggernaut. I really like the flavor and the appearance of this power/monster, but I have a few issues with it. [list] First, I'm not sure if it makes sense to have the creator take damage while inside the AJ. After all, the construct is effectively granting full cover from the outside world. I see where you are coming from (the myth aka game balance), but it just strikes me as unnecessary, even more when you consider that the manifester has already spent at least one full-round action entering the AJ and only manifest at reduced efficiency with Burrowing Power - and not at all without the feat. I know it's at most 19 points, but still... Second, I think the "Ectoplasmic Salvo" ability is a bit off. First, it is extremely expensive, considering the cost of the astral construct at first, and then a 1d10/pp ratio. In my opinion upping the menu C choice "Concussion" to become more powerful when selected for an AJ would make more sense and be much more elegant - if just because psionics has no precidence for splitting the damage dice pool. Perhaps something like This would give it a kinda powerful ranged attack (pre-epic topping out at 9d6 force damage per round) and allow a reasonable spreading of the damage as per concussion blast's augmentation. Additionally, I just think that using the AJ's BAB for the salvo attack is plain wrong. There is - AFAIK - no similar ability, and it doesn't even make sense as BAB is meant to represent one's own combat training. Don't get me wrong, the basic idea is very cool, but I think your implementation is not very rules conform and "unelegant". Why not just give the manifester a +4 competence bonus on all attack rolls when he's taking control of the AJ in addition to the AJ's ability modifiers if they are higher than the psion's? Third, the "Master's Enhancements" strike me as being a little too expensive. Considering the costs, I can see AJ being a real sinkhole for PPs, perhaps even a psion bleeding many level 9 powers' worth of points into it [17(base) + 18(metaphysical slam) + 18(metaphysical defense) + 5(awesome force) = 58(total)] for relatively little gain, compared to what an arcane caster can get with eg summon elemental monolith. Why not include them as augmentation for the basic power? Like Fourth, do you really think that short a duration is necessary? 1 minute seems to be kind of stingy, especially considering how many PPs a psion could potentially blow on the power. Creating the AJ, upping it's attack and defense a little, and using the salvo a few times and you're looking at perhaps 60, 70 or even more PPs spent. I don't think that 1 round/level would hurt very much. Also, that change would prevent this power from quickly falling out of game in epic levels (and if just keep up a little with the uncapped gate). Fifth, there's an small error (probably a typo) in the AJ's statblock: the touch AC should read "6", not "16". ;) And last but not least, I think you should include a clause in "Carry Master" or give a special ability similar to or This would at least mitigate the factor that an AJ is a "piece of cake" target for dismiss ectoplasm. This weakness is really a strong decisive factor for the psion who must even more carefully consider if it's worth spending all that PPs on his AJ if it can be removed from combat that easily. I'll defer this one to the guys who actually constructed the Astral Juggernaut, as my contribution for this power and monster can be summed up as mostly "sounds pretty cool" and "maybe change this" ;) Another question... what is the main "target audience" of Untapped Potential? Is it intended to also offer options for not primarily psionic characters (aka "A guide to psionics for all classes"), with PrCs similar to Pyrokineticist or Warmind? Or is it intended to focus on already manifesting characters? Remember, we have new base classes and not just prestige classes. Our PrCs are mostly designed for manifesters, but not all of them. Our base classes are manifesters, but one is also a full base attack base class as referenced. This book will have material for all characters who have access to psionic material - so any of the psionic races, characters who have taken wild talent, etc, can all find something. The audience is really just aimed at psi-fans who want more options. That's all for so far, and it looks really promising. If I was WotC, I would try to hire you. ;) === Greetings, _Ra-Tiel. Well, I can only hope we live up to the expectations, but we're doing our best to make sure: A) It's balanced B) It's quality material C) It's actually useful and not just an interesting concept
Bacris 05-31-06, 08:50 AM	Not to nag or anything, but if you want help setting up a modular and easily maintained website, gimme a holler. Thanks for the offer :) I hastily constructed the website we have right now just to get something ready. We're looking into other options that we have at our disposal :) Now, onto the more advanced questions: 1. Is the "Mantra" notation particular, does it give a cumulative bonus dependent on the number of Mantra feats you have? Yes and no. You may not normally activate more than one mantra at a time, so that is what the Mantra notation indicates. It also indicates the mechanic of the effect. All mantras, as noted in the preview, require gaining psionic focus to start the effect. Once you gain psionic focus, you must choose your mantra effect and it is static until you regain psionic focus. Even if your mantra effect ends, you cannot choose another effect until you regain psionic focus. And mantras have short duration effects, so prepping these guys too far in advance doesn't work :) 2. Would it be possible to see a preview of which psionic races get which sub-classes? As in "Half-Giant Soulknife" and so forth? I'll discuss with the other guys to make sure they concur and, if so, I'll let you know :)
DisposableHero_ 05-31-06, 10:38 AM	First things first, if anyone thought the psionics loving community was a small portion of this board, I'd invite them to consider the fact that this thread has recieved almost 700 views in less than 24 hours on the board, during the middle of the week, and during an upgrade period for the boards. Now on to questions: I am interested in the Mantras, as I am about to start up my campaign world featuring heavy influence from vedic India. Any influence from thataways, or is a fialry different take on them, ala Incarnum's use of chakras?I can't say that that was my inspiration. To be honest, after presence of the master, which was the first, I was inspired mechanically by the tension between the maintain focus and expend focus aspects. Flavor wise they take after several elements of lore from oriental martial arts and the pop culture view of them, where it was thought that the practitioners of these art were capable of supernatural effects, if mild ones (think crouching tiger hidden dragon). The name mantra came up because I had originally come up with non psionic feats with abilities in this fashion that I had dubbed stances that came with a passive effect and a combat maneuver that could be performed that ended the effect. The guys then proposed one of the low level abilities from our full base attack class that introduced the "gain focus to activate" idea, and it just clicked in my head that that was the perfect way to do a uniquely psionic version of my staces. So I asked "what would you call a mental stance" and came up with mantra. The meditative connotations are what lead me to the supernatural kung fu angle. Before anyone gets any ideas, Mantras aren't entirely for warrior types (I suppose spirit of the attuned tells you that anyway) they just started that way. At present we have Mantras that cater to Psychic Warriors, Monks, Soulknives, Pure Manifesters (psions, wilders, ardents), Lurks, Psychic Rogues, and Fighters/Barbs/Pallys of psionic races (or with wild talent). Anyway, I strongly encourage adpating these to whatever flavor you like, we picked one we liked, and tried to make it as passive and mutable as possible so people could use it if they liked and would not be constrained by it if they didnt. 1. Is the "Mantra" notation particular, does it give a cumulative bonus dependent on the number of Mantra feats you have?The notation is to point out the similarity of the mechanics and introduce the rule that you can only activate one at a time. It also lets us create additional feats, class features, items, and so forth that support mantras but are not mantras without a whole lot of rules text. I'll try to get to Ra-Tiel's comments later when I have a little more time.
Racinante 05-31-06, 12:01 PM	Psychoplane? This power [DUELING GROUND] appears to be balanced with the spell Ethereal Jaunt, and the possibilities, even used as a minor Time Stop, are intriguing, but psychoplane? Is this particularly defined? Why not psychic demiplane, or etheral demiplane (since the description is similar to how the material plane looks from the ethereal), or even psionic demiplane. Why coin a new term? Planes and Demiplanes seem to cover every possibility, how is psychoplane different from those? Also, the power [EPHEMERAL BOLT] breaks one of the fundamental rules of the ethereal plane. Since ethereal creatures, spells, and objects cannot affect creatures on the material plane, how can the bolt stick into a material target (even if it doesn't do damage at that time) if there can be no interaction in that area? I would guess that this is 2nd level due to the ability to bypass barriers, assuming line of sight is needed, but not line of effect. Good luck on the project, I will be interested in seeing the final work, especially your polymorph replacement/options.
the Slayer of Heroes 05-31-06, 12:13 PM	wow..... that'l teach me to go on vacation. look what i miss! kinda makes my own failed attempts at publication seem somewhat pathetic. ^_^; I very much hope for your success. More power to you! And now, for my question: Do you have anyone in mind to do the artwork? :D
Tempest Stormwind 05-31-06, 01:02 PM	Psychoplane? This power [DUELING GROUND] appears to be balanced with the spell Ethereal Jaunt, and the possibilities, even used as a minor Time Stop, are intriguing, but psychoplane? Is this particularly defined? Why not psychic demiplane, or etheral demiplane (since the description is similar to how the material plane looks from the ethereal), or even psionic demiplane. Why coin a new term? Planes and Demiplanes seem to cover every possibility, how is psychoplane different from those?Considering how "nondimensional space" isn't technically another plane yet isn't truly defined (beyond "bigger on the inside than it is on the outside"), we have a bit of precedence. If you use Hyperconcious, one could imagine it physically pulling both of you onto your mindscape, which is a psychoplane. Besides, fundamentally, it doesn't differ too much from a demiplane, except that to call it a demiplane would make a 6th level power that instantly generates one 80' across seem like a far stronger version of Genesis. Calling it a psychoplane gets around that (while still allowing planeshifters to escape the power as written). Also, the power [EPHEMERAL BOLT] breaks one of the fundamental rules of the ethereal plane. Since ethereal creatures, spells, and objects cannot affect creatures on the material plane, how can the bolt stick into a material target (even if it doesn't do damage at that time) if there can be no interaction in that area? I would guess that this is 2nd level due to the ability to bypass barriers, assuming line of sight is needed, but not line of effect.The first draft of that (that no one else on the project saw) used the Astral plane instead of the Ethereal, but I switched it to the Ethereal for thematic reasons and after thinking about what the Force descriptor would do to it. My original intent wasn't a phase-arrow effect that let you shoot through walls -- it was more of a secret bullet that left no trace of impact and could be triggered after you fired a lot of them into your target. The version as written here bypasses walls, but if that seems too strong for the 2nd level effect (it's 2nd level because it produces force damage and allows cross-planar attacks, as compared to Bolt, a 1st level power), then we'll rephrase it into something more like Blink. Our focus these past few days has been on the classes and the monsters. Revising and playtesting, as we've said, will come in the next two months. Good luck on the project, I will be interested in seeing the final work, especially your polymorph replacement/options.Thanks! I'm interested in seeing how people like that one. Like the mantra, a minor element of its mechanics stemmed from a poorly-thought-out idea I had a long time ago, but it was taken by another author and developed into a work of art. @Ra-Tiel: The Astral Juggernaut was the first of the monsters created especially for this book. Monsters have yet to be tested (though I've been wondering if it was too weak even as is). It's quite possible suggestions like those will alter the final product, depending on how it turns out here. I should also say that the amount of Epic material we have in the book is pretty meager and extremely limited in application. There's a small chance it will be cut from at least the PDF version. We will, however, consider scaling into Epic with the high-level effects (such as Astral Juggernaut).
Seerow 05-31-06, 02:48 PM	So every psion will be a shaper? :) It's 9th level shaper only, no expanded knowledge for you pre-epic! I was referring to Dueling Ground (Which is level 6 and 7 Respectively) not the Juggernaut. I was never much of a Gundam fan sorry to say =P
pfooti 05-31-06, 03:43 PM	I don't have anything constructive to say besides, woo-hoo! I'm looking forward to it.
Bacris 05-31-06, 03:51 PM	I was referring to Dueling Ground (Which is level 6 and 7 Respectively) not the Juggernaut. I was never much of a Gundam fan sorry to say =P Ah, ok :) And I've never watched Gundam, personally.
Izax19 05-31-06, 03:55 PM	I am absolutely amazed by this, the amount of work and thought you guys must have put in. I know that as soon as my next campaign starts up, I'm buying a PDF for myself (as DM) and one for each of my players (maybe two, just to be extra supportive). You deserve so much credit for this, I can't wait to actually read the full text, which looks to be amazing by the previews so far. Yeah, I don't have any actual questions, just a lot of kudos.
FriendlyBiscuit 05-31-06, 04:28 PM	Some of us will want to purchase the PDF right away, both to help with the funding and also because we'd like to begin playing with the new content right away. Many of the same folk will also want to purchase the print version. Will they be able to receive any sort of small discount on the print version if they can present some sort of proof of purchase from the PDF?
Bacris 05-31-06, 04:33 PM	Some of us will want to purchase the PDF right away, both to help with the funding and also because we'd like to begin playing with the new content right away. Many of the same folk will also want to purchase the print version. Will they be able to receive any sort of small discount on the print version if they can present some sort of proof of purchase from the PDF? Our goal is that, yes. We can't make any guarantees at this time, due to the variables of artists / printing costs / etc, but that is our goal.
taski 05-31-06, 06:37 PM	If you want illustrations, you can knock on my door.
Ra-Tiel 05-31-06, 06:55 PM	Hi. === [...]Before anyone gets any ideas, Mantras aren't entirely for warrior types (I suppose spirit of the attuned tells you that anyway) they just started that way. At present we have Mantras that cater to Psychic Warriors, Monks, Soulknives, Pure Manifesters (psions, wilders, ardents), Lurks, Psychic Rogues, and Fighters/Barbs/Pallys of psionic races (or with wild talent). [...] Well, sounds really cool! Perhaps you could include a mantra for wilders that somewhat reduced the severity of enervation? Like "while focused you reduce the amount of PPs lost due to enervation by your Charisma modifier (minimum 1pp). If you expend your focus while wild surging a power, you reduce the amount of PPs lost due to enervation by your Charisma modifier (minimum 1pp) and reduce the chance to enervate at all by your wilder class level (minimum 1%). --- My original intent wasn't a phase-arrow effect that let you shoot through walls -- it was more of a secret bullet that left no trace of impact and could be triggered after you fired a lot of them into your target. The version as written here bypasses walls, but if that seems too strong for the 2nd level effect (it's 2nd level because it produces force damage and allows cross-planar attacks, as compared to Bolt, a 1st level power), then we'll rephrase it into something more like Blink. If I might offer an idea? Ephemeral Bolt Psychoportation [Force] Level: FullBabClass 2, psychic warrior 2 Display: Material Manifesting Time: 1 standard action Range: Personal Effect: one or more psionically charged arrow, bolt, or bullet Duration: 1 minute/level Saving Throw: None Power Resistance: No Power Points: FullBabClass 3, psychic warrior 3 After manifesting this power, you encase every projectile you fire from one of your weapons in a shell of psionically charged ectoplasm, giving it the power to traverse through space and time in a very special way. When manifesting ephemeral bolt you can select one of the two following options. All projectiles you fire gain the same quality. Once selected, the quality cannot be changed unless you manifest the power again and select a different one. You can cause the ectoplasm to become unstable and break down when the projectile strikes a target, releasing a small amount of pure psionic energy at the target. Each projectile gains an additional +1 circumstance bonus to attack rolls and deals an additional 1d4 points of force damage. This allows you to attack incorporeal creatures, but they suffer only the force damage (unless the projectile was capable of affecting incorporeal creatures on its own - then the target suffers the full normal damage). Alternatively, you can cause the ectoplasm - and the encased ammunition - to loose synchronity with the material plane, shifting to and from the ethereal plane during it's flight. This provides each projectile with a 20% chance to become physical inside the target. You roll this chance before you make the attack roll. If it strikes true, you ignore all armor, shield, and natural armor bonuses to AC and the projectile bypasses all damage reduction. Augment: For every 1 additional PP you spend on this power, your projectiles gain an additional +1 bonus to attack rolls. For every 2 additional PPs you spend on this power, your projectiles deal an additional 1d4 points of force damage. For every 3 additional PPs you spend on this power, the chance of a projectile becoming physical inside the target increases by 5%. --- The Astral Juggernaut was the first of the monsters created especially for this book. Monsters have yet to be tested (though I've been wondering if it was too weak even as is). It's quite possible suggestions like those will alter the final product, depending on how it turns out here. Ah ok, didn't know that. I was just pointing out a few things that struck me as being unnecessarily complicated or wonky. I hope you don't mind comments like this on the previews you give us? --- [...] We will, however, consider scaling into Epic with the high-level effects (such as Astral Juggernaut). Good to hear! From the official side, psionics get far to few love in epic games. :( I'm looking right at you, designer of the epic wilder! :mad: :nonono: === Greetings, _Ra-Tiel.
Racinante 05-31-06, 08:00 PM	Considering how "nondimensional space" isn't technically another plane yet isn't truly defined (beyond "bigger on the inside than it is on the outside"), we have a bit of precedence. Good point. I have always been annoyed with that definition anyway. If you use Hyperconcious, one could imagine it physically pulling both of you onto your mindscape, which is a psychoplane. One of the parts of Hyperconscious I did not care for, but I see where you are going. Besides, fundamentally, it doesn't differ too much from a demiplane, except that to call it a demiplane would make a 6th level power that instantly generates one 80' across seem like a far stronger version of Genesis. Calling it a psychoplane gets around that (while still allowing planeshifters to escape the power as written). But it is only temporary, like Ethereal Jaunt... The first draft of that (that no one else on the project saw) used the Astral plane instead of the Ethereal, but I switched it to the Ethereal for thematic reasons and after thinking about what the Force descriptor would do to it. My original intent wasn't a phase-arrow effect that let you shoot through walls -- it was more of a secret bullet that left no trace of impact and could be triggered after you fired a lot of them into your target. The version as written here bypasses walls, but if that seems too strong for the 2nd level effect (it's 2nd level because it produces force damage and allows cross-planar attacks, as compared to Bolt, a 1st level power), then we'll rephrase it into something more like Blink. Or you could just make it invisible and silent with a delay option between creation and impact.
Kiklio 05-31-06, 09:29 PM	New psionic material written by Bacris, TempestStormwind, and DisposableHero? Excellent! *air guitar* This all looks thrilling and amazing and awesome- certainly, all of you guys provide some of the best advice, support, and ideas for this board. In particular, you're hitting on some of the coolest game elements, such as racial substitution levels. The Astral Juggernaut is an interesting monster. It seems really impressive, but also customizable with 3(!) Menu C choices. However, lots of posters have always wanted support for permanent psionic constructs, or astral constructs which go beyond 9th level. For example, if you Overchannel to 23 ML, you'd have a 12th level construct. That's probably ridiculous-sounding, but there it is. Anyways, I just wanted to communicate in some fashion the elation at this kind of endeavor being put into production by respected board members. Keep on writing and playing- you have my money! (BTW, it's commendable that you waited until most of your material was drafted/tested before announcing. Otherwise your inboxes might be full of "When's Untapped Potential coming out?" This way, they'll be less time for anticipation...I assume)
TheSubtlePenguin 06-01-06, 12:18 AM	I feel... dirty. I'm considering buying a third party book now. EDIT: Minorly off topic, but Tempest, is that a Big O refrence in your sig?
Tempest Stormwind 06-01-06, 01:29 AM	EDIT: Minorly off topic, but Tempest, is that a Big O refrence in your sig? Nope, seeing as I'm only aware of that term as a slang (while you appear to note it as, say, a film). I got the "showtime" line because I'd seen the Super Smash Brothers Brawl trailer (http://www.smashbros.com/en/movie/index.html) about thirty times before I wrote the announcement. Just so everyone knows, we don't mind suggestions, although we do have to maintain control over what we've written due to publication issues. We'll listen to you guys as we develop, though*, so keep the feedback coming! *This is something WotC needs to do more often. Hell, if this "semi-OpenDev" approach to writing works out beautifully, we may revise it later in a potential sequel... but I'd rather not get ahead of myself.
Seerow 06-01-06, 01:33 AM	Well if the selling goes half as well as the positive feedback here might show (which isn't necessarily a given, but it is nice) the money from this book could go towards publication of a sequel.....
Lokathor 06-01-06, 02:11 AM	I'm most interested in the Astral Juggernaut, and i'm torn between "It should have 1min/level duration to match up with other 9th level spells" and "most all other 9th level spells are too strong, that's not an excuse to make this too strong." I do like the power boosting being a seperate thing from the creation of the Juggernaut however. Forcing the Psion to decide which aspects of it he wants to increase first, or if he wants to increase it at all for this specific creation, seems to keep it a bit more in check.
Soel Griffin 06-01-06, 03:33 AM	More questions. Will there be any use of lesser cost augmentations for powers (like some seen in CPsi?) Will there be any PrCs in this book? (might have already said, and if so apologies in advance.) I am really looking forward to this book/pdf. Like the Dicefreaks planar material, it shows that when folks are dissatisfied/left wanting from WotC material, they can and will put their own stuff out.
angellis_ater 06-01-06, 03:55 AM	Suggestion for "Astral Juggernaut": Make the duration 1 round/level - longer than the fixed 1 minute and gets a little better from Wild Surge, Overchannel and the like. Question: What kind of view of flavor are you taking? It was mentioned several times and I'm a bit curious. Can we have a preview pretty please?
Tempest Stormwind 06-01-06, 04:28 AM	More questions. Will there be any use of lesser cost augmentations for powers (like some seen in CPsi?) Currently there are none but this remains a possibility for the unique powers we develop. We're less likely to revise existing powers -- in fact, not one alteration of any sort is in the book so far. The only example of a "fix" would be the polymorph 'fix' -- which is more of a "scrap that and use this instead" approach than a revision. Will there be any PrCs in this book? (might have already said, and if so apologies in advance.)There are ten fully-developed PrCs in the PDF. There remains the potential for more in the print version, but this is unlikely. Several of them are quite interesting. Although there's nothing for a non-manifester on the PrC front (well, not *quite* true; there's a touch of soulknife support and one class can be entered by a nonmanifester, although it's easier as a multiclass), virtually any manifester should find something interesting here (whether or not they actually take it). I am really looking forward to this book/pdf. Like the Dicefreaks planar material, it shows that when folks are dissatisfied/left wanting from WotC material, they can and will put their own stuff out.Similar, except that IIRC the problem there wasn't planar support, it was Planescape support. (I'm all for a planar adventure, but I *despise* Planescape. I want to kill it with fire and never look back.) In the case of psionics, only *one* book was published, and it *sucked* even more than the Planar Handbook. Question: What kind of view of flavor are you taking? It was mentioned several times and I'm a bit curious. Can we have a preview pretty please?Not until we get more work done on it. What I can say is that I've given you a hint in the title of the book, and in unusual word choice in my previous post.
Bacris 06-01-06, 01:09 PM	Someone requested the list of which races had which class specialty levels in addition to the half-giant soulknife. We discussed it and determined it would be acceptable to release the list. Total, there are 12 race / class combinations. Each psionic race has two combinations, one for their favored class and another. This includes the elan's option of any of the 6 disciplines, unlike the kalashtar telepath, for instance. The other combinations are below. Dromite Ranger Duergar Egoist Elan Monk Half-Giant Soulknife Maenad Fighter Xeph Monk
Nephlite 06-01-06, 02:16 PM	Someone requested the list of which races had which class specialty levels in addition to the half-giant soulknife. We discussed it and determined it would be acceptable to release the list. Total, there are 12 race / class combinations. Each psionic race has two combinations, one for their favored class and another. This includes the elan's option of any of the 6 disciplines, unlike the kalashtar telepath, for instance. The other combinations are below. Dromite Ranger Duergar Egoist Elan Monk Half-Giant Soulknife Maenad Fighter Xeph Monk Thanks for the preview of that. Will we get any insight in the book or can you tell us now; why those combinations were chosen? 1/2 Giant Soulknife with powerful buiild I believe has come on the board at least 3 times in questions. So offering that is cool and makes sense. Why a Meanad Fighter?
Azzy 06-01-06, 02:47 PM	Bloody hell, another book I'm gonna have to purchase. *sigh* Seriously, though, it sounds great--I'm quite impressed by the previews so far. I will be purchasing a copy as soon as possible. Similar, except that IIRC the problem there wasn't planar support, it was Planescape support. (I'm all for a planar adventure, but I *despise* Planescape. I want to kill it with fire and never look back.) Ferris Bueller, you're my hero. :) I hate Planescrape, and I'm sick of its sychophantic, zealot-proselytisers.
Bacris 06-01-06, 03:35 PM	Will we get any insight in the book or can you tell us now; why those combinations were chosen? 1/2 Giant Soulknife with powerful buiild I believe has come on the board at least 3 times in questions. So offering that is cool and makes sense. Why a Meanad Fighter? Partly, it was to have non-psionic class options for the psionic races; we didn't want it to be all psionic races with all psionic classes, we wanted there to be options for non-psionic classes, too. Then it was which classes made sense thematically for the races. The duergar's favored class is fighter, so there was a non-psionic option, so we wanted a psionic option, too, etc.
Tempest Stormwind 06-01-06, 04:03 PM	Maenad Fighter was chosen for a few reasons. Maenads have a rather rigid society, focusing on mental discipline. They favor armor, if possible. The Outburst ability is of little use to most manifesters, but of tremendous use to fighters (assuming the fighter is either focusing on uncomplicated non-Int-based feats or is surprisingly smart). Fighter seemed a natural choice for the second one for maenads. (Perhaps because I wrote most of it, but it's my favorite of the bunch. Yes, *fighter*.)
Tleilaxu_Ghola 06-01-06, 09:43 PM	Query: is there a counter-nerf for astral constructs available in this book? A feat or something that alleviates/lifts/destroys the retarded restriction imposed by CPsi?
Bacris 06-01-06, 10:02 PM	Because Complete Psionic is not OGL, this book can't really touch any of its content, and operates independently of its rule system :)
Sithobi1 06-01-06, 10:02 PM	Since CPsi isn't OGL, they can't refer to it and therefore for their purposes, Astral Construct hasn't been nerfed at all.
Tempest Stormwind 06-02-06, 01:24 AM	Because Complete Psionic is not OGL, this book can't really touch any of its content, and operates independently of its rule system :) Which, incidentally, means that CPsi is the best possible place for that nerf (other than Purgatory). Had it been a real 'nerf' in the errata, it'd have to be dealt with in this book. ;)
Khan the Destroyer 06-02-06, 03:44 AM	Guys, this is great. A similar thought ran through my mind the night Complete Psionics came out: 'I bet if we pooled together, the Psionics Board could pop out a book 1000 times better than this piece of explitive.' Unfortunately, I don't have the time to devote to something like that. But fortunately, others do! And without even having read Untapped Potential, I am confident it will be everything Complete Psionics should have been. Thanks for the hard (or at least, tedious?) work guys, it will be greatly appreciated!
Redeemer of Ogar 06-02-06, 12:21 PM	I'm very much looking forward to this! I'm another one of those who will probably pick up both the PDF and the print version. You stated that you are including no "fixed" soul-knife. Will you be including SK support that allows them to diversify? The sort of thing I'm looking for is PrCs or Feats that allow the mindblade to continue progressing in some way, or that moves Shape Mindblade earlier than 5th to allow reasonable dipping into soul-knife, or feats that enhance the mindblade in some way OTHER than turning it into an Orcish Double-Axe. :rolleyes: It's commonly held that the two main problems with Soulknife are that it cannot multiclass effectively, and the enhancements list are too limited. Feats or PrCs to address this are sorely needed to make the SK as effective as it is cool. :D Note: I'll still pick this up for the psion options, but psions are easy, it's the rest of the psi-classes that are a challenge.
klode_me 06-02-06, 01:02 PM	Are you three authors? Uhhh, can't wait to tell my DM that, maybe he'll allow some of your online stuff then. Cheers klode_me
Bacris 06-02-06, 01:18 PM	Are you three authors? Yes. Tempest, DisposableHero, myself, and a couple others are the authors :)
klode_me 06-02-06, 01:33 PM	Yes. Tempest, DisposableHero, myself, and a couple others are the authors :) Are any of your online classes in this book? I'm so much gona have this, this is freaking great guys! :cool: Any previews of PrCs yet? I would love to see it. Keep it up. Cheers klode_me
Tempest Stormwind 06-02-06, 01:50 PM	I'm very much looking forward to this! I'm another one of those who will probably pick up both the PDF and the print version. You stated that you are including no "fixed" soul-knife. Will you be including SK support that allows them to diversify? The sort of thing I'm looking for is PrCs or Feats that allow the mindblade to continue progressing in some way, or that moves Shape Mindblade earlier than 5th to allow reasonable dipping into soul-knife, or feats that enhance the mindblade in some way OTHER than turning it into an Orcish Double-Axe. :rolleyes: The soulknife does have some support in the form of multiclass compatibility (the MFBACM* can dip soulknife for some interesting options, and some levels of MFBACM* may benefit some soulknives, although it's still multiclassing), feats (both mantra and non-mantra), racial sub levels (you've seen one), rules on prestige classes similar to the rules Warlocks got in Complete Arcane, and items. It doesn't get as much support as the other classes, but we tried to keep it in mind when we wrote the rules. That's probably saying too much. But hey, I'm feeling generous. *Mysterious Full Base Attack Class of Mystery
Seerow 06-02-06, 01:59 PM	So to take a wild guess... your Soulknife Level counts as caster level, and increased spellcasting progression improves the Mindblade? Eldritch Knight finds another use! (Improving the Soulknife's BAB at least)
DisposableHero_ 06-02-06, 02:01 PM	Any previews of PrCs yet? I would love to see it. Keep it up.We're keeping the classes and PrCs under wraps for the moment because we believe they are the most likely to recieve revision during playtesting.
klode_me 06-02-06, 02:06 PM	We're keeping the classes and PrCs under wraps for the moment because we believe they are the most likely to recieve revision during playtesting. Have you made any variant wilder? Cheers klode_me
Tempest Stormwind 06-02-06, 02:11 PM	Have you made any variant wilder? Cheers klode_me No replacement classes exist in this book (the "variant" psion is more like an "alternate" psion, similar to the erudite in that regard though mechanically distinct). This has already been said. If you'd like a variant Wilder, try BlaineTog's (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=403159).
Nephlite 06-02-06, 02:42 PM	No replacement classes exist in this book (the "variant" psion is more like an "alternate" psion, similar to the erudite in that regard though mechanically distinct). This has already been said. If you'd like a variant Wilder, try BlaineTog's (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=403159). Does the Wilder gain support like feats or some such? There were a few in Complete Psi, but not that much. Even the Soulknife got more. Maybe something boosting Volitile Mind or something?
FallenLord 06-02-06, 08:31 PM	will the new material in the print version be available as a downloadable pdf for those who purchased the original pdf file? if not, is there a plan to release the new material in the print version as a pdf at a discounted price for those who have purchased the original pdf? and do you have any price for the pdf and print versions?
Tempest Stormwind 06-02-06, 08:34 PM	Nephlite: Wilders do get some support. There's not a lot of options available in the final draft that are tailored specifically to wilders (though there are several that prove interesting for any manifester, regardless of their class, that a wilder would be able to use better than a psion -- a couple of our powers were designed with that in mind), but there's a couple in the draft stage that might not make the PDF release. There's been a surge of recent creativity from all authors involved, though, so we may have to expand the book even more than expected when the print version hits. will the new material in the print version be available as a downloadable pdf for those who purchased the original pdf file? if not, is there a plan to release the new material in the print version as a pdf at a discounted price for those who have purchased the original pdf? and do you have any price for the pdf and print versions?1) Not likely, but see below. 2) This has been said multiple times already in the thread, and clearly on the website as well. I can't go into more info here due to Code of Conduct violations. 3) Again, see the website. Nothing yet.
Kuraito 06-02-06, 09:56 PM	*still deleted, becuase I forgot most of what I said :weep: *
Bacris 06-03-06, 12:35 AM	*deleted, due to extending an undeserved gesture of respect* I saw the original post :) Cheers!
klode_me 06-03-06, 01:17 PM	Hey Tempest Stormwind, is there any material based on your Mindborn template? Cheers klode_me
sir_dwar 06-04-06, 10:21 AM	:OMG! :OMG! :OMG! :OMG! :OMG! :OMG! :OMG! :OMG! :OMG! :OMG! Have I said enough? THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Also, Good Luck!
Tempest Stormwind 06-05-06, 02:01 AM	*deleted, due to extending an undeserved gesture of respect* And I have to apologize for stepping out of line on the other thread. I have no excuse, and were it still unlocked I would have removed it. There was a time when I was a real a**hole, and I'd hoped I'd grown beyond it. I guess there are still bits of that in me, and I apologize for not keeping it in check. Hey Tempest Stormwind, is there any material based on your Mindborn template?There could be. It was written up in a hurry (the whole thing was done in an hour on the boards), so we'd have to do some pretty serious edits if it were to see print. Well, unless I happened to get it right the first time (which is unlikely, a lot of my "in the moment" things tend to suck in my eyes... but people liked the Mindborn anyway...). We'll see if the Monsters section needs a high-level PC template or not. :omg! :omg! :omg! :omg! :omg! :omg! :omg! :omg! :omg! :omg! :omg! :omg! :omg! :omg! Have I said enough? THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Also, Good Luck!I think we hit a nerve. :D Thanks for the well-wishing. I hope it will exceed your expectations. I would like to say to all of you that the book is progressing along. There've been some new ideas and plenty of refinement of old ideas. More refinement is to come soon. A lot of the new ideas that we're getting have to be put on hold for the time being, though, at least to make sure the rest of it is worthy of being published. Some of the other ideas include adapting material from non-OGL books (such as Heroes of Horror) to operate with our work, and vice versa -- which means that you can expect to see a web enhancement to the book as well as a print version, similar to the Mind's Eye (both old and new incarnations). I can't say anything on this yet -- as, quite literally, there's nothing *to* say at the moment -- so I can't claim when it'll show up or how long it'll be... but it's a distinct possibility. I will also say this: Due to the fact that content on the boards until the 12th are being wiped, we aren't likely to post any additional previews here until then at the very soonest. Rumors that one may show up on the boards explicitly *because* of this wipe are of course completely untrue.
Aranan 06-05-06, 01:06 PM	Stopping by to let you guys know that I'm eagerly following this. I'm a psionics fan, and the lack of material makes any new work catch my eye, especially if it looks to be of high quality like this. You have a buyer here. :)
Artector 06-05-06, 03:31 PM	I too will eagerly pitch in and get one when the time comes. Psionics will be better because of it. and I doubt I'll be much help, but feel free to PM me if you would like me to do something. PS: May this be the Physical Manifestion of a Natural 20!
tiluvias99 06-05-06, 04:12 PM	This is truly amazing. My one question- What do you guys think of putting in (or asking the author to allow you to put in) the Society Mind? That seems like such a natural addition to the book.
TheSubtlePenguin 06-05-06, 05:42 PM	So your saying you'll have a weeky column? This is gonna be amazing.
Tempest Stormwind 06-05-06, 05:49 PM	So your saying you'll have a weeky column?Sorry to dash hopes, but I said "a web enhancement". Singular. It might be expanded, but certainly not a weekly column. This is gonna be amazing.Aye, that it will. This is truly amazing.Thanks.My one question- What do you guys think of putting in (or asking the author to allow you to put in) the Society Mind? That seems like such a natural addition to the book.Perhaps. More to come soon, I hope.
sir_dwar 06-05-06, 06:09 PM	:whatsthis :shocked: :clap: :dancin: :w00t: :love: :drool: :drool: :drool: 'nuff said. Oh yah, Have any of you said anything about this to Bruce Cordel? I can't help wondering what he would think of it.
sir_dwar 06-05-06, 06:11 PM	And I have to apologize for stepping out of line on the other thread. I have no excuse, and were it still unlocked I would have removed it. There was a time when I was a real a**hole, and I'd hoped I'd grown beyond it. I guess there are still bits of that in me, and I apologize for not keeping it in check. There could be. It was written up in a hurry (the whole thing was done in an hour on the boards), so we'd have to do some pretty serious edits if it were to see print. Well, unless I happened to get it right the first time (which is unlikely, a lot of my "in the moment" things tend to suck in my eyes... but people liked the Mindborn anyway...). We'll see if the Monsters section needs a high-level PC template or not. I think we hit a nerve. :D Thanks for the well-wishing. I hope it will exceed your expectations. I would like to say to all of you that the book is progressing along. There've been some new ideas and plenty of refinement of old ideas. More refinement is to come soon. A lot of the new ideas that we're getting have to be put on hold for the time being, though, at least to make sure the rest of it is worthy of being published. Some of the other ideas include adapting material from non-OGL books (such as Heroes of Horror) to operate with our work, and vice versa -- which means that you can expect to see a web enhancement to the book as well as a print version, similar to the Mind's Eye (both old and new incarnations). I can't say anything on this yet -- as, quite literally, there's nothing *to* say at the moment -- so I can't claim when it'll show up or how long it'll be... but it's a distinct possibility. I will also say this: Due to the fact that content on the boards until the 12th are being wiped, we aren't likely to post any additional previews here until then at the very soonest. Rumors that one may show up on the boards explicitly *because* of this wipe are of course completely untrue. ACtually, those where SUPPOSED to be smileys.
Rageheart 06-05-06, 08:29 PM	Will Untapped Potential be OGL material? if not would you be open to talks? I hope so, purely so that it can be included in the PCGen "permissioned" data sets. I support PCGen whole heartedly,... but it needs more Psi :D
Kuraito 06-05-06, 08:30 PM	I return my support to this project and likewise apologise to Tempest. Perhaps I was a bit sensative as well. I always support fledgling game designers (being one myself...kinda...) and despite my stance on psionics relative power level, I do enjoy it and am actually the only person from my original gaming group who DMed an all Psionics campaign(rant: why the HELL didn't the XPH Mindflayer get a CR increase over the MM Mindflayer? I almost killed the party. They still, to this DAY, tease me about it). I share many peoples veiw that psionics do not get enough support from WotC and that it be core material in 4.0. I'm glad people who are so familar with the system are fixing that problem. Now I just need to figure out how to get my hands on a copy.....*hint*
Tempest Stormwind 06-05-06, 08:51 PM	Will Untapped Potential be OGL material? if not would you be open to talks? I hope so, purely so that it can be included in the PCGen "permissioned" data sets. I support PCGen whole heartedly,... but it needs more Psi :D As I said on the main announcement, it seems that most of it will be. There's going to be a small amount of non-OGL material, likely, but the vast majority will probably be Open Game. I'm not sure exactly how much or what's going to be what yet. ...off the record, my personal guess is that virtually all of our mechanics will be Open Game. And, personally, I don't mind PCGen, but I haven't used it too much since it switched away from freeware. I do support the initiative to provide tools to the gaming community (I write nodes for OpenRPG as a hobby, for instance), though my recent experience with PCGen is effectively nil. I return my support to this project and likewise apologise to Tempest. Perhaps I was a bit sensative as well. I always support fledgling game designers (being one myself...kinda...) and despite my stance on psionics relative power level, I do enjoy it and am actually the only person from my original gaming group who DMed an all Psionics campaign(rant: why the HELL didn't the XPH Mindflayer get a CR increase over the MM Mindflayer? I almost killed the party. They still, to this DAY, tease me about it). I share many peoples veiw that psionics do not get enough support from WotC and that it be core material in 4.0. I'm glad people who are so familar with the system are fixing that problem.Apologies accepted. I'll do my best to keep it from happening again. Now I just need to figure out how to get my hands on a copy.....*hint**rolls natural 1 on Sense Motive* My this is a tasty muffin.
Bacris 06-05-06, 08:52 PM	Oh yah, Have any of you said anything about this to Bruce Cordel? I can't help wondering what he would think of it. I don't believe any of us have. I have not. Will Untapped Potential be OGL material? if not would you be open to talks? Some of it most likely will be, although we don't have specifics yet about what we will make OGL and what will not be. Now I just need to figure out how to get my hands on a copy.....*hint* Hehe, any copy right now would likely not be very worth having. This experience has definitely given me some more respect to the authors of these rulebooks... well, except for those who really didn't think out their material before sending it out. The amount of time we're spending on possible scenarios / combinations that could cause balance issues is a part of the reason it has taken us as long as it has. We want to make sure that not only is it good in the concept, but good in the mechanics. The nice thing about having a PDF copy before a print copy is those things that somehow slip through the pdf copy, we can fix in the print copy :)
Rageheart 06-05-06, 09:09 PM	... And, personally, I don't mind PCGen, but I haven't used it too much since it switched away from freeware. I do support the initiative to provide tools to the gaming community (I write nodes for OpenRPG as a hobby, for instance), though my recent experience with PCGen is effectively nil. Um.... PCGen is and as far as I can tell always will be Freeware, the caveat there is that the base program doesn't come with any NON-OGL game info, (oh drat, no Complete Psionics) I believe what you are thinking about is CodeMonkey Publishing which split off of the main group and entered into a retail agreement with WoTC for the rights to sell the NON-OGL Source files. They are no longer closely tied to PCGen and do not control the direction of the product. PCGen does come with all of the SRD and RSRD as well as OGL content from many vendors... the Psionics support is pretty good, but not yet perfect... (that's what I've been gripin about to them mostly :) ) More PCGen Info from the FAQ: IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT PCGEN - PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING! Last Updated: Jan 30, 2006 When will 3.5e be supported in PCGen? ------------------------------------- 3.5e is supported in PCGen since version 5.6. Since PCGen is OGL compliant, we refer to 3.5e as RSRD (Revised System Resource Document) that is the free version of the core 3.5e books that Wizards of the Coast produces. In the "Settings" menu of PCGen, select the "Game Mode" menu item and you'll see how you can switch between game modes like 3.5e and 3e. Depending upon which Game Mode you're in, the list of books you can load will vary. We created a Game Mode for 3.5e because there are a number of rules differences between it and 3e. Where are Wizard's of the Coast's books and modules? ---------------------------------------------------- Those are handled under a special license by the gang at Code Monkey Publishing Where are the Star Wars/Call of Cthulhu/Wheel of Time files? ------------------------------------------------------------ Even though Wizards of the Coast produces those books, they don't own exclusive rights to that material. We'll need to get permission from both Wizards and the other copyright owner(s) of said material before we can include them in PCGen. It is our intention to acquire this permission, but we're being very careful about how we proceed to maximize our chance of success. We'll keep everyone informed when anything worthy of reporting occurs. PCGen is OGL (Open Gaming License) ---------------------------------- Versions 4.0.0 through 4.3.12 were D20 compliant - this compliance was dropped with version 5.0 because we wanted to better support publishers who were not D20 compliant. Thanks! Bryan McRoberts (Benevloent Dicatator) and Martijn Verburg (Chair Monkey) This information is co-hosted at: http://www.legolas.org/pcgen/pytw/#State_O_PCGen ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Home is just a click away. Make Yahoo! your home page now. http://us.click.yahoo.com/DHchtC/3FxNAA/yQLSAA/7tRolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> PCGen's release site: http://pcgen.sourceforge.net PCGen's Wiki: http://www.legolas.org/pcgen/pytw/#Welcome PCGen's alpha build: http://www.legolas.org/pcgen/autobuilds PCGen's Online Docs: http://www.legolas.org/pcgen/docs/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pcgen/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: pcgen-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Tempest Stormwind 06-05-06, 09:16 PM	I stand corrected. I may have to look at it again soon. EDIT: Of COURSE we spoke with Bruce. We're next-door neighbors, all of us, and Bruce called us over for a dinner party. Due to the overwhelming fiscal success of freelance game authors, he was able to provide us each with a private helicopter, a trip to the moon, and our very own pegasus! Mine's named Feathers and he eats the souls of my enemies. ...in other words, no. Although I do hope to see a print copy ordered under his name eventually.
AdventChild 06-06-06, 11:23 AM	lucky bastards :)
NoldorForce 06-06-06, 01:44 PM	When this comes out, it will probably join my collection of gaming PDFs that comprise, oh, >2500 pages (around 800 of which have been printed). Excellent job!
Mercurius 06-07-06, 01:54 PM	This is a very impressive bit of news. I'm a relatively recent adopter of the 3.5 psionics rules (having labored long under an anti-psionic bias), and I just last month picked up (but have yet to read) Hyperconscious. I do look forward to more material to flesh out Psionics, especially as far as mechanics are concerned – more mechanic options for my players is something I am all for, and there are so few for psionics, at least as far as PrCs are concerned. I haven't been around these boards a lot, but I do recognize several of the authors as being very knowledgeable psionic buffs, so I expect great things, especially since you are all clearly focused on playtesting the rules you release. I will have to keep an eye out for the PDF (I've never even purchased a PDF sourcebook before). Just one question: In my campaign, I've gone with Psionics as a manifestation of dream magic over the more conventional psionic flavour of the XPH (derived from a thread on these boards, no less: Truenaming Psionics). I've noticed portions of Hyperconscious seem to be ideal for reinforcing this flavour, though I haven't read them in depth enough to be sure. How much would I need to retool the flavour of this book in regards to psionics-as-oneiromancy?
Tempest Stormwind 06-07-06, 02:27 PM	Thanks for the kind thoughts, Mercurius. I hope the book lives up to everyone's expectations. It should.Just one question: In my campaign, I've gone with Psionics as a manifestation of dream magic over the more conventional psionic flavour of the XPH (derived from a thread on these boards, no less: Truenaming Psionics). I've noticed portions of Hyperconscious seem to be ideal for reinforcing this flavour, though I haven't read them in depth enough to be sure. How much would I need to retool the flavour of this book in regards to psionics-as-oneiromancy?Hyperconcious is VERY strongly dream-influenced, to the point of producing effects that just plain don't work if you aren't dreaming. Our book is a bit more generic than that, although the dream element is still there. It's even reinforced a bit mechanically in some areas -- especially the section that I'm actually revising as I type this. It's not required, like it almost is in Hyperconcious (we leave much of the flavor on that element up to the player; for instance, two people can play a given class and one could call it dream magic while another calls it intuition, say), but it's there. In fact, if I had to choose a single element of psionic flavor that it would emphasize over all the others, it'd probably be the dream feel. It isn't everywhere, but it's more prevalent than some of the others. Just a reminder: I wrote the original oneiromancy post in Truenaming Psionics. :) As for those of you NOT using the oneiromancy connection: Don't worry. It isn't everywhere, and most of the stuff that is dream-related is STRONGLY dream-related (and self-contained), instead of assuming that the dream connection is overarching like it is in Hyperconcious.
Mercurius 06-07-06, 05:39 PM	Thanks for the kind thoughts, Mercurius. I hope the book lives up to everyone's expectations. It should.Hyperconcious is VERY strongly dream-influenced, to the point of producing effects that just plain don't work if you aren't dreaming. Our book is a bit more generic than that, although the dream element is still there. It's even reinforced a bit mechanically in some areas -- especially the section that I'm actually revising as I type this. It's not required, like it almost is in Hyperconcious (we leave much of the flavor on that element up to the player; for instance, two people can play a given class and one could call it dream magic while another calls it intuition, say), but it's there. In fact, if I had to choose a single element of psionic flavor that it would emphasize over all the others, it'd probably be the dream feel. It isn't everywhere, but it's more prevalent than some of the others. Just a reminder: I wrote the original oneiromancy post in Truenaming Psionics. :) :doh: I can't believe I forgot who originally said it. Well, then, you've helped out my campaign immensely. You also posted in a thread I started on these forums about the crystal and tattoo themed flavour of psionic items, and that got me rewriting the flavour of divine and arcane items as well, creating three different themes which help readily identify an item's components to those who are in the know. It was a very helpful post. Shoot, I'm looking forward to this more now. If you find yourself looking for artists, I would like to volunteer my potential services. I'm in a state of transition at the moment, and I may or may not find myself more flooded when you actually need one, but I figure I'll throw it out there. You can find my stuf here (http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b91/E_Mercurius/).
Tempest Stormwind 06-07-06, 05:52 PM	:doh: I can't believe I forgot who originally said it. Well, then, you've helped out my campaign immensely. You also posted in a thread I started on these forums about the crystal and tattoo themed flavour of psionic items, and that got me rewriting the flavour of divine and arcane items as well, creating three different themes which help readily identify an item's components to those who are in the know. It was a very helpful post....I think I remember that one, but you've piqued my interest again. If you could find a link I'd be appreciative. (I'd also love to hear, after the board wipe and on Truenaming Psionics, how you redid your game.) Shoot, I'm looking forward to this more now. If you find yourself looking for artists, I would like to volunteer my potential services. I'm in a state of transition at the moment, and I may or may not find myself more flooded when you actually need one, but I figure I'll throw it out there. You can find my stuf here (http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b91/E_Mercurius/). We'll keep it in mind. Thanks for the offer!
Deekin 06-08-06, 01:33 AM	Just out of Curiosity, do nomads get any love in this product? There current list of unique powers leaves a little to be desired.
Tempest Stormwind 06-08-06, 06:20 PM	Just out of Curiosity, do nomads get any love in this product? There current list of unique powers leaves a little to be desired. Yes. The nomad features prominently in this book (currently, it has the most new devotion powers, and several of them are really interesting), and psychoportation in general takes center stage in quite a few areas.
Travis_UI 06-08-06, 08:50 PM	Just out of Curiosity, do nomads get any love in this product? There current list of unique powers leaves a little to be desired. Although to be fair, do nomads need anymore love than temporal reiteration?
sir_dwar 06-08-06, 09:13 PM	VITAL MESSAGE KEY TO SURVIVAL OF THIS PROJECT- Don't put any thri-keen stuff in it. They aren't ogc. ___________________________________ Wow, that was short.
Tempest Stormwind 06-08-06, 09:19 PM	Although to be fair, do nomads need anymore love than temporal reiteration? Correction: Nomads get plenty of *well-thought-out* love in this book. :p Most of the authors on board are experienced optimizers and all of us are psionics nuts. We'd easily catch something like that. Sir Dwar: We were aware of that already, and you'll note that our racial sub levels don't contain the 'kreen, nor the gith races. We also went so far as to rename them ("racial specialties") and write up simple, self-contained rules for them (they do the same thing as racial subs) to avoid problems with Product Identity.
Tempest Stormwind 06-11-06, 01:25 PM	Heads up, people, we've got a board upgrade coming! This means that you should save this thread if you want to keep your Q&A. I'm saving a copy as of THIS post and I'll see about getting it up on our website. Additionally, after the upgrade, we'll have another preview up. It'll be a very much anticipated section, too.
angellis_ater 06-11-06, 03:47 PM	Whohooo! It's gonna be the Full BAB Class!
Tempest Stormwind 06-11-06, 04:42 PM	Whohooo! It's gonna be the Full BAB Class! ...Well, technically, we had something else planned. And the highest levels of the MFBACM* (at least, one variant of them) are still under revision, let alone playtesting. But we might include the early levels and possibly the flavor. Let's just say the Optimization Challenge board, right now, would be extremely interested in the material we'll be previewing.
angellis_ater 06-11-06, 06:53 PM	Technically? So that means we WILL be seeing it! Yihaa! It worked! :)
BlaineTog 06-12-06, 10:49 AM	Ooooooo, coooool. Me likey. Makes me wish I had the time to help or something. Well, feel free to use any of my stuff, if you want. [/ego trip]
AlienFromBeyond 06-13-06, 04:41 PM	Will there be any Society Mind stuff to play with?
Tempest Stormwind 06-13-06, 05:05 PM	Technically? So that means we WILL be seeing it! Yihaa! It worked! :) Or did it? Will there be any Society Mind stuff to play with?We'll see. Actually, I've got another tab open right now with the next preview prepped to go. I just need to click "Submit". I'm waiting for the board upgrade to hit (a day late, I might add). It's a bit different from the last one, but you'll probably appreciate it.
angellis_ater 06-13-06, 07:24 PM	Dude - check out the message at the top of the forums, head over to community.wizards.com and please hit that Submit button! :)
Tempest Stormwind 06-13-06, 07:24 PM	You know what? I'd rather not wait for these boards to update, so I'll give you the preview NOW and repost it if the boards ever DO get around to updating. GAH! They added that update while I was typing that up! Moving to Community.wizards.com. ...which is down for a short while. And I just removed the preview from here. Nerts.
Tempest Stormwind 06-13-06, 08:16 PM	Okay, I had to act really fast to save the preview from my temporary web pages, but I was able to extract the nuts and bolts of it to a temporary file. Due to FTP issues, I couldn't upload it to my usual host. So, I improvised. IF YOU WANT TO SEE PREVIEW 2 WHILE THE NEW BOARDS ARE DOWN, CLICK HERE (http://s10.quicksharing.com/v/3029323/preview.txt.html). 1) Download that file. 2) Change the extension from .txt to .html 3) Open it in your web browser of choice. 4) Enjoy the preview, albiet in truncated form. Feel free to discuss it here until Community.Wizards.Com reopens. I'd have done a better job, but I have to step out for dinner now.
Bacris 06-13-06, 08:19 PM	I'll move it over to community.wizards.com
Tempest Stormwind 06-13-06, 08:22 PM	Gah, and NOW it comes back up when it's too late for me to change it, by DELETING all the new posts.... Thanks, Bacris. Just be sure to keep the formatting and change the title of that hidden Sblock to "Tempest is a sucker for the dramatic reveal and made me add this" or something. I AM, after all, a sucker for the dramatic reveal.
Bacris 06-13-06, 08:36 PM	Now that the new boards are up... Okay, so this time, we're doing something different. There are a few areas of the book which are still in a state of flux, but aren't changing too much. There are other areas which are plug-and-play and exist regardless of flavor. I'm giving out a sample of these both. In short, there'll be a Fluff preview (which hints at things yet to come!) and a Crunch preview (which shows you a direction we're going while still leaving the destination secret). If you're just now joining us from the CO board, the Crunch preview is the one you'll want to see. I should note that the earliest forms of this ability (and much of its development, including the drafts of the powers) predate the PHB2 release. If, like many on this board, you're interested in the MFBACM (Mysterious Full-Base-Attack-Class-of-Mystery), you may want to check the Fluff preview. She's got a lot of stage time there. As always, material here is subject to change before publication. THE MARKSMAN “I would stand with my back turned while my arcane colleague completed his incantations to turn a single snowflake blood red. In an instant, I would turn, nock my bow, and let an arrow fly. Each time, I unerringly hit the snowflake. I don't see why anyone was impressed with this. I wasn't even blindfolded.” --Ceruth, Half-Elven Marksman Combat at a distance has held appeal to warriors since the first thrown rocks. Today is no different – military units take pride in their sharpshooters, archery contests are regular mainstays at fairs, and common folk exchange stories of legendary precision with ranged weapons. Such stories are often of adventuring marksmen (who, despite the name, are as often women as men), those who have honed their minds as well as their bodies into a unified whole. The sniper, the crack shot, the showman, the assassin: all are marksmen, and all are deadly. Making a Marksman Marksmen are astonishingly good at ranged combat, and have a natural home in the party’s second line with their bow, crossbow, or bandoleer of thrown weapons. As much about perception as precision, several of their key abilities relate to sensing “the shot” and pulling off the impossible. Additionally, marksmen have a small array of psionic powers to supplement their ranged prowess. Many marksman abilities also rely on psionic focus – gaining, maintaining, and expending it. Adaptation: Marksmen are relatively easy to adapt, as they exist in such a wide niche of flavor. Instead of relying on intuition, perhaps marksmen in your game are the chosen of the deities of luck, and draw their power from there. Maybe there are no organized marksmen, instead it being a solitary path, or perhaps the marksmen are one of the products of a breeding program for psionic supersoldiers. Forcing marksmen to choose a single Signature Style (instead of choosing each stage individually ) forces the class into a more rigid structure. If your campaign features other broad classes of ranged weapons -- for instance, gunpowder pistols or rifles -- then marksmen certainly should have new Signature Styles for each weapon class, reflecting the nuances of such a style. The Augur (NPC Class) Augurs go by many names. Some call her the medium, the wise woman, or the witch. Other augurs may be the oracle, the visionary, or even the grand vizier. In any case, an augur is capable of glimpsing the future, and generally uses this power in the name of the community, generally in an advisory role. Dedicated augurs may even awaken a broader array of powers through dangerous meditations in dreamlike trances -- trances which drain the augur's very soul. A powerful augur may appear far older than may actually be the case. The Nameless Fear At times, a dreaming psionic creature experiences nightmares, like any other creature. What is unique about these, though, is the risk they carry to others. If a psionic creature is jarred from their sleep in cold sweat by overwhelming fear, the residual psychic energy on the region of dreams develops an existence of its own – and the nameless fear is made. Accurate information on this nameless fear is hard to come by, as only a very small number of strong-willed folk have ever encountered them and survived. It is clear that they are more primal and instinctual than intelligent... at least at first. Existing in a dream state, their physical existence is highly morphic – after consuming the minds of their victims, they transform to mimic their prey, growing more cunning with every passing transformation. The Nameless hunger for form, knowledge, and power. They consume these entirely. Suffering beggars, hardened adventurers, wealthy lords, and unborn children are all the same to the Nameless Fear. No dreamer is safe. Guard your dreams. The crunch preview focuses on the replacement for Polymorph and Metamorphosis. It's split into three sections: The new feats to support dedicated shapechangers, the new powers, and the new spells. THIS AREA IS STILL UNDERGOING SERIOUS PLAYTESTING. The following powers and spells from the SRD do not exist under this variant: Metamorphosis, Greater Metamorphosis, Polymorph, Polymorph Any Object, Shapechange. (The Trickery domain's 8th level spell is now Scintillating Pattern.) There are serious revisions to Alter Self and Wild Shape (although only Wild Shape is being presented here; you can no longer expect Alter Self to be a gateway to powerhousing and instead being a very simple shapechanging effect). Other shapechanging spells (Animal Shapes, Baleful Polymorph) are unaffected (or if they are affected, the change is too minor to note here). NEW SUBSCHOOL/SUBDISCIPLINE: Shapechanging The Shapechanging subdiscipline signifies powers of the Psychometabolism discipline that alter the shape and nature of the body. Retroactive Additions: The following powers from the Expanded Psionics Handbook are considered members of the (Shapechanging) subdiscipline of powers: animal affinity, biofeedback, bite of the wolf, chameleon, claws of the beast, compression, ectoplasmic form, expansion, form of doom, oak body, psychofeedback, shadow body, thicken skin. The Shapechanging subschool signifies spells of the Transmutation school that alter the shape and nature of the body. Retroactive Additions: The following powers from the Player’s Handbook are considered members of the (Shapechanging) subschool of spells: barkskin, enlarge person, gaseous form, iron body, reduce person, stoneskin. (Several other spells will be added here; the spell revision is still under review. Look at the list of psionic powers to get a feel for which other ones will get this.) NEW DESCRIPTOR: Formbound Spells and powers that carry the Formbound descriptor depend on imprinting the form of an available creature, usually by touch, to determine their effect. Characters with the Formbinding feat can store additional imprinted forms for use with these powers. It should be noted that creatures whose forms you draw upon while using these abilities are not actually the target of such abilities. Instead, they serve as sort of a living spell focus. A special caveat exists for spellcasters who prepare their spells, such as wizards. Such casters must choose the creature that they imprint when they prepare the spell, rather than when they cast it. As such, to prepare a Formbound spell requires that the preparatory caster have the creature in question available (usually within touching range or imprinted by Formbinding) when preparing the spell. Once prepared, the spell can only be used with the form of the creature that was imprinted when the spell was prepared. Spellcasters who cast their spells spontaneously, such as sorcerers, face no such restriction and draw upon forms when casting them. FORMBINDING [General] Your training in the supernatural allows you to attune your body to the forms of others, and draw upon their powers in times of need. Prerequisite: Caster or Manifester level 3, able to cast one spell or power with the Formbound descriptor. Benefit: You may imprint the form of a single willing living creature, or one who has been dead for no longer than 1 hour per caster/manifester level, into your own body. Doing so allows you to treat the imprinted form as being in contact with you when you use a Shapechanging spell or power. Imprinting a form takes 1 minute of continued physical contact. You can imprint forms with hit dice no greater than your caster or manifester level. You may only have one form imprinted at a time, plus one additional form per five hit dice you have. Attempts to imprint additional forms beyond this amount automatically fail. However, as a standard action, you may choose to abandon any number of imprinted forms, losing access to them (unless you imprint them again later), but allowing you to imprint additional forms. An imprinted form loses many of the characteristics of the individual it was imprinted from. An imprinted form is an average example of that kind of creature in all ways. Traits such as extraordinary ability scores, class levels, and templates are not stored in an imprint. When manifesting a power or casting a spell with the Formbound descriptor, creatures you have imprinted may be treated as though you were touching them. Normal: Formbound spells and powers can only borrow aspects of creatures you touch when they are used. Special: Certain supernatural effects disrupt the ability to imprint forms. You cannot imprint the form of a summoned creature, nor can you imprint the form of any creature with the Extraplanar subtype (although outsiders may be imprinted if you attempt to imprint them on their native plane). MASTER FORMBINDER [General] You are a master at creating your own imprints from creatures without their consent. Prerequisites: Formbinding, either Bluff 15 ranks and Spellcraft 15 ranks OR Heal 15 ranks and Psicraft 15 ranks. Benefit: You may attempt to imprint a creature's form (see the Formbinding feat) in 1 round instead of 1 minute, and you don't need to touch the creature in question. You must stay within 60' of the creature at all times, however, and if your concentration is disrupted you must start again. Additionally, you may imprint unwilling forms through supernatural charm and deception, or create an artificial imprint through your expertise at anatomy. Make a Bluff check or a Heal check (whichever you used to meet the requirements of this feat) at a DC of 10+the creature's Hit Dice at the end of your formbinding attempt. If you are successful, you have stolen that creature's form and imprinted it within you. Although no display appears while you attempt this (you may appear as innocuous as you like during the actual imprint), an imprinted creature knows that you've stolen its form without its consent afterwards, and is typically angered by this deception. Finally, you may hold one additional form beyond what would normally be allowed with Formbinding. Special: You must abide by all other Formbinding restrictions when using this feat, including the limits on maximum forms held and hit die limits. Assume Ability Psychometabolism (Shapechanging) [Formbound] Level: Egoist 5 Display: Visual Manifesting Time: 1 Standard Action Range: Personal Target: You Duration: 1 round/level (D) Saving Throw: None Power Resistance: No Power Points: 9 Manifesting this power allows you to use one extraordinary special attack of a creature you touch. If the creature was limited in the number of times their ability could be used, then the ability granted by this power is equally limited. Limits on the imprinted creatures ability that specify a number of times per day (or other interval of time) are limited over that time period regardless of the number of times this power is manifested. If an extraordinary special attack is dependent on a natural attack (such as poison delivered by a claw attack), you must possess the natural attack in question to use the special attack (natural attacks provided by powers such as Claws of the Beast count for this purpose). If you are under the effect of the Assume Form power or any other power or effect which grants you another creature’s form, you can only use this power to assume the abilities of the form you currently possess. This power stops functioning if such an effect grants you a form other than yours or the imprinted creature. Augment: You may augment this power in one or more of the following ways: 1. For an additional 4 power points you may assume an extraordinary special quality of an imprinted creature instead of a special attack 2. For an additional 4 power points you may assume an additional ability of the imprinted creature. This ability must be one you could already assume with this power. Assume Form Psychometabolism (Shapechanging) [Formbound] Level: Egoist 3 Display: Visual Manifesting Time: 1 Standard Action Range: Personal Target: You Duration: 1 round/level (D) Saving Throw: None (Harmless) Power Resistance: No Power Points: 5 Manifesting this power allows you to assume the appearance of one creature you touch, provided that creature is within one size category of your current size (powers such as compression and expansion change your current size for the purposes of this power, and size change due to this power stacks with such effects). You can assume the form of a creature of the same type as your normal form, or any other type except construct, elemental, outsider, and undead. The assumed form can have challenge rating up to your manifester level, to a maximum of 15. Assuming the creatures form grants you a +10 circumstance bonus to disguise checks made to mimic that creature or a member of that creature’s race. In addition, if your size changes you assume the appropriate size modifiers to attack rolls, reach, hide checks, and armor class for your new size. If the assumed form is a size category larger, you receive a +2 bonus to Strength, but a -2 penalty to Dexterity. If the assumed form is a size category smaller, you receive a +2 bonus to Dexterity, but a -2 penalty to Strength. These bonuses and penalties stack with effects such as expansion and compression. If the assumed form is capable of speech you can communicate normally. When the change occurs your equipment remains worn or held by the new form (if the form is capable of holding or wearing the items in question) or melds into the form and becomes nonfunctional. If you are slain while under the effects of this power, you revert to your original form, though you remain dead. You may only assume one form at a time. While in an assumed form, you are treated as if you were in contact with a creature of the assumed form (for use with later formbound effects). Augment: This power may be augmented in one or more of the following ways: 1. For 1 additional power point this power’s duration becomes “1 minute/level (D)” 2. For an additional 3 power points you gain access to all the natural attacks of your new form. 3. For an additional 3 power points you gain access to any mundane movement modes the form possessed, these replace the mundane movement modes you possessed before manifesting the power for the duration of the power. [These costs, in particular, are under review.] Borrow Essence Psychometabolism (Shapechanging) [Formbound] Level: Egoist 9 Display: Vi Manifestation Time: 1 standard action Range: Personal Target: You Duration: 1 minute Power Points: 17, xp You gain all the extraordinary and supernatural special qualities of a creature you touch. If you are under the effect of the Assume Form power or any other power or effect which grants you another creature’s form, you can only use this power to assume the abilities of the form you currently possess. Limits on the imprinted creatures qualities that specify a number of times per day (or other interval of time) are limited over that time period regardless of the number of times this power is manifested. XP COST: 200 xp. Fluidic Form Psychometabolism (Shapechanging) Level: Egoist 8 Display: Vi Manifestation Time: 1 standard action Range: Personal Target: You Duration: 1 round/level Power Points: 15 You become able to alter your body with unmatched speed and efficiency. For the duration of this power, the total cost (base plus any augmentations) of any power you know of the (Shapechanging) subdiscipline is reduced by one-half (rounded up). You can manifest any power you know of the (Shapechanging) subdiscipline as a swift action. You can even manifest multiple (Shapechanging) powers with the same swift action. Doing so requires that you pay the power point cost for all powers at the same time, and the sum of their costs must be less than or equal to your manifester level. Inanimate Transformation Psychometabolism (Shapechanging) Level: Egoist 4 Display: Ma, Ol Manifestation Time: 1 standard action Range: Personal Target: You Duration: 1 minute/level Saving Throw: None Power Resistance: No Power Points: 7 You assume the form of an inanimate object. You gain the object’s hardness and retain your own hit points. You can take the shape of almost any simple object you can think of. If you attempt to take the form of a complex object, you must make an appropriate Craft check, at the same DC required to craft the object. If you fail the check, your manifestation of the power does not succeed. Likewise, you cannot take the form of a complex mechanical mechanism unless you have some sort of skill associated with the object and make the same Craft check. You cannot use this power to assume the form of a psionic item or a magic item, or any object with a hardness of 15 or higher. You also cannot take the form of a psionically animated mechanism or any object formed of ectoplasm. You cannot take the form of any object that weighs more than 20 pounds per caster level. As an inanimate object, you lose all mobility. You retain your normal senses and your ability to speak. You can manifest a power if you make a Concentration check (DC 20 + power level); however, you cannot attempt concentration checks to hide the display (XPH page reference). If you take damage while in the form of an object, your actual body also takes damage (but the object’s hardness, if any, protects you). These are *not* all the formbound effects you can find. There's at least one more feat and several other powers unrelated to shapechanging that use the formbinding mechanic as a springboard. Mimic Ability Transmutation (Shapechanging) [Formbound] Level: Sor/Wiz 5 Components: Verbal, somatic Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25 feet + 5 feet per two levels) Target: One willing creature Duration: 1 round/level Saving Throw: None (Harmless) Spell Resistance: No This spell allows the target to use one extraordinary special attack of a creature you have touched (either at the time of casting or when the spell was prepared, see the special rules regarding the Formbound descriptor). If the imprinted creature was limited in the number of times their ability could be used, then the ability granted by this power is equally limited. Limits on the imprinted creature’s ability that specify a number of times per day (or other interval of time) are limited over that same time period regardless of the number of times this spell is cast. If an extraordinary special attack is dependent on a natural attack (such as poison delivered by a claw attack), you must possess the natural attack in question to use the special attack (natural attacks provided by spells or effects that grant natural attacks count for this purpose). If the target is under the effect of the warp form spell or any other spell or effect which grants another creature’s form, this spell can only grant the abilities of the form it currently possesses. This spell ends if such an effect grants the target a form other than its own or the imprinted creature’s. A creature may benefit from multiple castings of mimic ability; each additional casting allows the target to use another extraordinary special attack of the imprinted creature. All special attacks granted by this spell must come from the same imprinted creature or the spell fails. A spellcaster with a caster level of 16 or higher can use this spell to grant the target a creature’s extraordinary special quality instead of a special attack. Qualities granted this way face all the same restrictions as extraordinary special attacks granted by this spell. Warp Form Transmutation (Shapechanging) [Formbound] Level: Sor/Wiz 4 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 Standard Action Range: Close (25 feet + 5 feet per two levels) Target: One willing creature Duration: 1 minute/level Saving Throw: None (Harmless) Spell Resistance: No This spell alters the target into the form of one creature you touch (either at the time of casting or when the spell was prepared, see the special rules regarding the Formbound descriptor), provided that creature is within one size category of the target’s current size (spells such as enlarge person and reduce person change your current size for the purposes of this power, and size change due to this power stacks with such effects). You can grant the form of a creature of the same type as the target, or any other type except construct, elemental, outsider, and undead. The assumed form must belong to a creature with a challenge rating of no more your caster level, to a maximum of 15. Assuming the creatures form grants you a +10 circumstance bonus to disguise checks made to mimic that creature or a member of that creature’s race. In addition, size changes grant the target the appropriate size modifiers to attack rolls, reach, hide checks, and armor class for the new size. If the assumed form is a size category larger, this spell grants a +2 bonus to Strength, but a -2 penalty to Dexterity. If the assumed form is a size category smaller, it grants a +2 bonus to Dexterity, but a -2 penalty to Strength. These bonuses and penalties stack with effects such as enlarge person and reduce person. This spell also grants the target all the natural attack forms of their new body (such as claw or bite attacks) and all mundane movement modes (such as flight or swim speeds); no other abilities are granted. The new form’s movement modes replace the movement modes the target possessed before the spell was cast. If the assumed form is capable of speech the target can communicate normally. When the change occurs the target’s equipment remains worn or held by the new form (if the form is capable of holding or wearing the items in question) or melds into the form and becomes nonfunctional. If a creature slain while under the effects of this spell, they revert to their original form, though they remain dead. Only one form can be granted by this spell at a time. While in a warped form, you are treated as if you were in contact with a creature of the warped form (for use with later formbound effects). Mimic Essence Transmutation (Shapechanging) [Formbound] Level: Sor/Wiz 9 Components: V, S, XP Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Personal Target: You Duration: 1 minute You gain all the extraordinary and supernatural special qualities of a creature you touch. If the target is under the effect of the warp form spell or any other spell or effect which grants another creature’s form, this spell can only grant the abilities of the form it currently possesses. This spell ends if such an effect grants the target a form other than its own or the imprinted creature’s. Limits on the imprinted creature’s ability that specify a number of times per day (or other interval of time) are limited over that same time period regardless of the number of times this spell is cast. XP COST: 200 xp. Juggle the Masks Transmutation (Shapechanging) Level: Sor/Wiz 8 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Personal Target: You Duration: 1 round/level Your body abandons the restrictions of a single form. You can cast any spell of the (Shapechanging) subschool on yourself as a swift action. Spells cast this way have no verbal or somatic components. You can even cast up to three different (Shapechanging) spells with the same swift action, expending their spell slots at the same time. In addition, this spell grants you a reservoir of power to morph your form with. You gain (20?) virtual spell levels to use for (Shapechanging) spells that target only yourself. These virtual spell levels allow you to cast any spell you know (if you are a spontaneous caster) or have prepared (if you are a preparatory caster) without actually expending the spell slot or prepared spell, as long as that spell is of the (Shapechanging) subschool and you are casting it only on yourself. Casting spells in this way uses up virtual spell levels equal to the level of spell being cast (for example, casting an enlarge person would require expending 1 one of the virtual spell levels this spell grants, whereas casting a warp form would need 4 and casting an iron body would need 8). Spells cast from these virtual spell levels can be cast as swift actions as this spell allows normally. When this spell’s duration ends, any unused virtual spell levels disappear. (The number of virtual spell levels is currently under review.) ===== WILD SHAPE This ability is fundamentally identical to Warp Form affecting only yourself and limited to the animal shapes as described in the Druid class description. You still must touch the animal in question (though see below). Unlike Warp Form, you are not bound by your own size – rather, you are bound by the size limits of the Wild Shape class ability and automatically assume the animal's size (within the Wild Shape boundaries). Ability adjustments are doubled each step (+2/-2 for one size category difference (Medium to Small or Large), +4/-4 for two, +8/-8 for three, and so on). Spellcasting is still restricted as normal for Wild Shape. As a special function of this ability, any form the druid could legally Wild Shape into may be imprinted (as if through Formbinding) in-game without the Formbinding feat, and doesn’t count against the limit of imprinted forms if the druid has the Formbinding feat. Wild Shape cannot be used to assume the form of any creature other than animals (but not dire animals), unless the druid has attained sufficient level for additional types to become available. If these abilities are availble, the druid may imprint these forms normally. When the druid attains sufficient level to use Elemental Wild Shape, she also benefits from Mimic Ability when she assumes an elemental form. (We have not yet decided if druids only gain ONE mimicked ability, or all of them.) Other restrictions on Warp Form and Formbinding -- including CR restrictions on the former and HD restrictions on the latter -- still apply normally. x-posted to both boards, just in case. New board post here (http://community.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=9288423#post9288423)
Deekin 06-13-06, 09:23 PM	ME WANT NOW!!!! Seriously, this looks like a great project, and I like the formbound mechanic, but think the current Formbinding limit is a bit of a shock, esp when you are coming from knowing all forms to having to touch somethig. Maybe give what the formbinding feat gives now as a standerd abillity, and Upgrade the formbinding feat. The way it is set up now, no one who took Formbinding powers/spells would want to be without this feat. It's like Wild Spell that way
Tempest Stormwind 06-13-06, 11:17 PM	One minor note Bacris missed: Please send your posts over to the new boards. We'll be handling comments over there from now on (unless they're down). He's included a link in his repost.
Bacris 06-13-06, 11:21 PM	I've been trying to respond to Artector's comment for the past 15 minutes... new boards seem to be having some growing pains.
Tempest Stormwind 06-13-06, 11:29 PM	I've been trying to respond to Artector's comment for the past 15 minutes... new boards seem to be having some growing pains. Yeah, I've noticed. So, here's my response to Deekin's post (which was also cross-posted). ===== The thing is, in the current mechanics, you don't "know them all". There's this vague bit about "familiarity" (especially with Wild Shape) which several DMs have enforced as a (false) reason why it's balanced. We just took it one step further: You're limited to what you have with you in the encounter, unless you took the feat. (And actually, no, there is a way around the feat. We just deliberately hid that from this preview.) If you did take the feat, it still allows the DM to prevent you from using certain forms he finds problematic -- or, alternatively, provides adventure hooks for you. You want the form of a troll, congrats, go and fight your way to a troll cave, and when you've killed enough of them to get a minute's peace and quiet (or after you've convinced them to hold still for that long), you just borrow its form. Polymorph shapes become a form of a reward for you, and a sign of power -- instead of every 7th level wizard becoming a hydra, you know that only the ones who have bested a hydra in battle or have otherwise tamed a hydra can assume that form. Here's another way to look at it: Fantasy routinely has tests for rewards, and the whole "take my power" thing has never really been represented well mechanically (the last time this happened in a game, the celestial cast a buff spell on me. Wheeee.). Now it has. You want to become a solar? Great. Contact one of them via magic, and he'll send you on a quest. If you complete it, head to Celestia and he'll reward you -- including the reward of being able to call upon his powers in battle. Or, alternatively, head out to the wilds, defeat a dragon in battle, and draw upon the dead form of your conquered foe much as you would the sword of a defeated enemy warrior. There may be a tweak like you suggest, eventually, but here's how it stands now. In all regards except the deliberately omitted elements. You'll also note that not all functionality has been maintained in the spells we've written; ultimate power shapechanging, like ultimate power in anything else, remains the province of suitably specialized PrCs. And any thoughts on the fluff, by the way?
AdventChild 06-15-06, 01:32 AM	:plotting:
AdventChild 06-15-06, 11:26 PM	:confused:
Tempest Stormwind 06-16-06, 01:32 AM	You post two smileys? That's not saying much, especially since neither truly commented on our second preview.
Seerow 06-16-06, 02:12 AM	That's cause you said to post at a place that doesn't exist, then responded to a post that nobody here can see. That tends to generate strange responses.
Tempest Stormwind 06-16-06, 02:57 AM	That's cause you said to post at a place that doesn't exist, then responded to a post that nobody here can see. That tends to generate strange responses. Yeah, kind of the worst timing ever, right? Sorry about that. In any case, Bacris DID repost it (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=9383125&postcount=143) on the previous page. Sorry about the confusion.
Bacris 06-16-06, 08:45 AM	The new preview is on this board - right here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=9383125&postcount=143). Given that the new boards have died a slow and horrible death and no idea when they'll be back up, let's bring discussion back to this thread :)
Redeemer of Ogar 06-16-06, 10:17 AM	I think that once you finish 'balancing' your Formbinding, you should reconsider whether anyone would actually have fun playing a formbinder. Remembering that Feats Should Be Nice Not Required, I'm concerned that all of your polymorphic spells will realistically only give you the ability to polymorph into a war dog, horse or hunting falcon unless you expend a feat on upgrading your formbinding. Let's be honest... if you HAVE a bear companion in your party, you probably don't NEED to be polymorphing into a bear. :) The Marksman looks decent, reminds me of Richard Rahl "Calling the Shot" from the later Terry Goodkind books. If it's a base class though, be wary of making it TOO specialized, which any ranged class risks (that's why they mostly are PrCs). Is it really going to be worth taking a round and 15 PP to manifest Fluidic Form for 1rd/lvl? I'd tend to think it's not, unless you have a shapeshifting augment that is REALLY good when you manifest it at Level 40 Manifester (since it's half-cost with Fluidic Form), or you have a way to extend the duration significantly. I have major problems with "assume form"s augment to gain mundane movement. First, I don't like telling players they can turn into an Eagle but they can't fly. Second and more important, if a Psion with enhanced movement (psion/barbarion with Speed of Thought etc etc) manifests this power without choosing to augment it so, you could end up with a snail that has a 60' move. :P More likely, imagine the hilarity of a pigeon who can't fly, but who is hopping around the battlefield at 100'/rd. ;)
Mercurius 06-16-06, 12:02 PM	I think that once you finish 'balancing' your Formbinding, you should reconsider whether anyone would actually have fun playing a formbinder. Remembering that Feats Should Be Nice Not Required, I'm concerned that all of your polymorphic spells will realistically only give you the ability to polymorph into a war dog, horse or hunting falcon unless you expend a feat on upgrading your formbinding. Let's be honest... if you HAVE a bear companion in your party, you probably don't NEED to be polymorphing into a bear. :) This is a good point, and one I noticed while skimming through the preview. While I'm not opposed to the idea of actually having to seek out and find monsters to shapeshift into them, I dislike that they have to be either alive or only recently deceased. Sure, the wizard who bested the hydra can shift into one, so long as he does it that same day. He can't rely upon his hydra shifting, and there doesn't seem to be any way to gain "familiarity" with various forms so that one doesn't need to keep tapping a source to shift. If it even just required keeping a portion of the beast, or a totem, or something similar on hand to shift into that creature, or if there was a "familiarity slot" system so that a wizard would keep a list of preferred forms he could always rely upon to have available (sort of like the Master Transmogrifist from Complete Arcane), I could see it being a bit more viable. I'm just not sure that the limitation you've created is really one that will lead to people bothering with shapechanging magic. But, then again, I could be reading it wrong.
Nephlite 06-16-06, 12:19 PM	This is a good point, and one I noticed while skimming through the preview. While I'm not opposed to the idea of actually having to seek out and find monsters to shapeshift into them, I dislike that they have to be either alive or only recently deceased. Sure, the wizard who bested the hydra can shift into one, so long as he does it that same day. He can't rely upon his hydra shifting, and there doesn't seem to be any way to gain "familiarity" with various forms so that one doesn't need to keep tapping a source to shift. If it even just required keeping a portion of the beast, or a totem, or something similar on hand to shift into that creature, or if there was a "familiarity slot" system so that a wizard would keep a list of preferred forms he could always rely upon to have available (sort of like the Master Transmogrifist from Complete Arcane), I could see it being a bit more viable. I'm just not sure that the limitation you've created is really one that will lead to people bothering with shapechanging magic. But, then again, I could be reading it wrong. I agree there. Eventually stuff desolves. There should be a system or something that preseves them without casting Gentle Repose (Arcane and divine only spell; poor manifester can't do it). Maybe 100 gp per HD or 10 gp per hd?
Tempest Stormwind 06-16-06, 02:13 PM	Good replies! The idea with Formbinding was initially to represent "familiarity" mechanically. It later expanded into what it is now. We'll consider rolling Formbinding (or at least some of it) into a basic character ability (say, anyone who can cast Formbound spells could hold a few forms). This, I think, is a good idea. Mercurius: Note how Formbinding lasts forever unless you decide to drop a form. Thus, that wizard who bested a hydra could turn into that hydra day in and day out from here till Doomsday if he wanted. The "recently dead" bit exists to enforce the idea of you defeating it in battle, as opposed to "Hey, I found a rotting shambling mound carcass! It's surrounded by spellcasters!" There is, as I mentioned, one additional feat which may bypass some of these restrictions. I won't go into details here since it's currently being revised, though I will say that even with the "recently dead" clause you can still give away new forms as a reward, even if they're unrelated to the creature you killed. On Assume Form's augments: We erred on the side of caution with that one. I'll look into what would happen if we rolled the augments into the power (at least some of them; the duration augment will likely exist as a +2pp one even if the others are rolled in, which supports egoists doing it earlier). Finally, on Fluidic Form: Every one of the psionic shapechanging options, as you may have noticed, erred on the side of caution. If Fluidic Form were extended to, say, 10 minutes per level, would it be more worthwhile? (It's there as a "replacement" to shapechange, as you probably noticed. It's not as powerful, but it lets you assume every element of a creature far cheaper than it would normally, if you've invested enough known powers in shapechanging. Note that Polymorph and Shapechange were too good specifically because there was only one spell to take. You can still shapechange with just one or two powers, but to achieve the true power it had earlier, you need a variety of them.) On the Marksman: It is, at the moment, rather specialized, but only slightly more so than the psychic warrior. It has a diverse power list as well as providing a solid framework for a ranged warrior. The early levels are rather generic (and can serve as a multiclass boost to ranged-attacking characters somewhat, including soulknives and warlocks, similar to how rogue serves as a skill/stealth boost as well as its own class), and the later ones get more specialized (but these are the levels you'd be taking instead of a prestige class anyway, and virtually no archery PrC advances manifesting as well). I will say this: It can make the crossbow a valid character choice as a primary weapon, instead of merely "oh, there's nothing better available." And I also see Marksman 20 being a popular build setup, but it doesn't penalize you for multiclassing very much (it *is* a manifester, and several class features relate to your Marksman level, but you can multiclass and still earn the rest of it).
Redeemer of Ogar 06-16-06, 04:15 PM	We'll consider rolling Formbinding (or at least some of it) into a basic character ability (say, anyone who can cast Formbound spells could hold a few forms). This, I think, is a good idea. *nod* I actually like the concept that you have to have encountered the (non-summoned) creature, but if you have to have TAMED it, it gets a bit silly. Perhaps you can hold one form for every point of INT mod, or every two points round up, or one per 5 class levels or something? Maybe have them as semi-memorized slots, and you have to succeed at a spellcraft check each time you use your familiarity or you lose the familiarity as you cast the spell (and the feat would negate that loss chance and increase your number of familiar form slots?). Just some brainstorming. I think if J Random Spellcaster/Psion can't create at least one form (and eventually 2 or 3) from memory without blowing a feat, then noone will use these powers/spells. On Assume Form's augments: We erred on the side of caution with that one. I'll look into what would happen if we rolled the augments into the power (at least some of them; the duration augment will likely exist as a +2pp one even if the others are rolled in, which supports egoists doing it earlier). Just keep Sprinting Sparrows in mind. :) Finally, on Fluidic Form: Every one of the psionic shapechanging options, as you may have noticed, erred on the side of caution. I actually didn't try to do the math to see how it worked out, I just noted that it's a big initial investment which doesn't pay off until probably the third round. I'd like your playtesters/designers to compare what you can do in 2-3 rounds with this power vs. what you can do without bothering with it, and at what cost... make sure they believe it's a worthwhile investment for a level 8 power. Keep up the good work!
Bacris 06-16-06, 04:28 PM	Perhaps you can hold one form for every point of INT mod, or every two points round up, or one per 5 class levels or something? So what about Wilders who want to do this? I don't see a problem with allowing a manifester to have access to one form without a feat... that allows dabblers - kind of how you can be a focus-expending build and not use psionic meditation, but it takes psionic meditation to be good at it... although that might not be the best option. We're very much discussing this topic, so don't take what I say as hard-set :) And remember, you don't have to tame it - you can kill it to take its form, after all ;)
Mercurius 06-16-06, 04:40 PM	I did miss the semi-permanent nature of formbinding. I figured I'd missed something. :embarrass However, I would say either go with a "One form per point of primary casting stat" or "one form per 3-5 manifester/caster levels" option, with the formbinding feat earning more. I dislike the skill roll to keep the form in your familiarity list, though. That's not so good. After all, one has a wide variety of options with Astral Construct without the feat/PrC, but the Boost Construct feat and the Constructor PrC open up extra options to the dedicated character.
Tempest Stormwind 06-16-06, 04:42 PM	*nod* I actually like the concept that you have to have encountered the (non-summoned) creature, but if you have to have TAMED it, it gets a bit silly. Perhaps you can hold one form for every point of INT mod, or every two points round up, or one per 5 class levels or something? Maybe have them as semi-memorized slots, and you have to succeed at a spellcraft check each time you use your familiarity or you lose the familiarity as you cast the spell (and the feat would negate that loss chance and increase your number of familiar form slots?). Just some brainstorming. I think if J Random Spellcaster/Psion can't create at least one form (and eventually 2 or 3) from memory without blowing a feat, then noone will use these powers/spells.I'm actually discussing a similar idea with some of the others right now (a simple one; the Formbinding feat itself is likely to be made simpler but the mechanics will remain somewhere in the book). The thought wasn't so much being forced to tame it (although that remains an option) as either subduing it, defeating it in battle, or convincing an intelligent ally (Solar, anyone?) to lend its power to your cause (be it through good Diplomacy or a quest). It felt a lot more cinematic than simply saying "familiar". Suffice it to say, J Random Spellcaster will have a few options, while K Random Shapechanger will, if he specializes, be able to do far more. (One side note: Did anyone else notice how the ideal shapechangers under this fix are druids (with limits), egoists (duh), and sorcerers? I was actually debating making Mimic Essence sorcerer-only, similar to how the wizard has Mordenkainen's Lucubation as wizard-only.) Just keep Sprinting Sparrows in mind. :)Will do. Although having volunteered at a breeding ground for peregrine falcons, as an aide for the quail-breeders (quail are a type of bird that breed very quickly; we used them as food for the endangered falcons), the image of a few thousand stampeding baby chicks is nothing short of terrifying, despite being every bit as cute. I speak from experience on this. No, I will not share the details. I actually didn't try to do the math to see how it worked out, I just noted that it's a big initial investment which doesn't pay off until probably the third round. I'd like your playtesters/designers to compare what you can do in 2-3 rounds with this power vs. what you can do without bothering with it, and at what cost... make sure they believe it's a worthwhile investment for a level 8 power.I'll admit, I had minimal influence on the shapechanging idea (I came up with the most rudimentary form of the idea without any crunch whatsoever, but wrote next to none of these rules), and I never polymorph/shapechange when I play D&D, so my expertise in this field is limited. But we'll keep this in mind anyway. My gut instinct is, as I've said, to make it 10 minutes/level. Or, in an unprecedented move that JUST occurred to me as I type this, perhaps have the points spent on Fluidic Form refunded to you when the power ends. Thoughts like these will be tested as well. Keep up the good work! Thanks for the vote of confidence! (By the way, nice sig. :p)
smrtgmp 06-16-06, 07:00 PM	The answer to this question is likely hidden somewhere in this thread, but I'm too lazy to look. :) When will this PDF be available to buy?
Tempest Stormwind 06-16-06, 07:12 PM	The very first post, actually, toward the end.
Llochlyn 06-19-06, 05:12 AM	I'm eager to see the pdf release, and will get it as soon as you publish it ! That looks like good work, as usual, and your creations I used in my campaigns always turned great Though, I have a question about the looks of the book. Will it include any art, and, much more important IMO, is anyone working on designing the document, the layout and overall graphics ? That would be sad if such great content was not supported by an appealing layout and easy reading ;)
Bacris 06-19-06, 09:06 AM	I'm eager to see the pdf release, and will get it as soon as you publish it ! That looks like good work, as usual, and your creations I used in my campaigns always turned great Thanks! Though, I have a question about the looks of the book. Will it include any art, Please see the website (http://dnd.twinked.org/untappedpotential.htm) for details on this. and, much more important IMO, is anyone working on designing the document, the layout and overall graphics ? That would be sad if such great content was not supported by an appealing layout and easy reading ;) I've been primarily handling the over-all layout of the document (tables, headers, format, chapters, Table of Contents), although we're all working to catch any slips and make sure it looks right.
AdventChild 06-19-06, 11:19 AM	Keep the good work, if you ever need help you can count with me, graphic design is my thing.
Llochlyn 06-19-06, 11:46 AM	that's what I had in mind, laying out too much text into too few pages is my job I'll be pleased to lend you a hand in this concern if it can help you, though you might have all the skills needed.
Ra-Tiel 06-19-06, 12:12 PM	Hi. === [...] I've been primarily handling the over-all layout of the document (tables, headers, format, chapters, Table of Contents), although we're all working to catch any slips and make sure it looks right. Just a technical question: what program are you using for the layouting? If it's just text and tables, you could use plain LaTeX. Or are you using some layouting program, like Scribus or even :eek: MS Publisher ( ;) ) ? I guess using a layouting application even for the text&tables only pdf makes it much easier to include the graphics and art in the print version, or am I mistaken?` === Greetings, _Ra-Tiel.
Ed-Zero 06-19-06, 06:00 PM	I have enjoyed the previews of your book quite a bit. I would easily buy it as soon as I could. I do have 2 questions: 1) Will there be a prestige class that deals with raising psionic undead (or since they're being controlled with their minds, dead)? (Aka: A Psionic Necromancer) 2) Will there be a feat or ability that actually works like Practiced Manifester should and raise the damage dealt by psionic powers or feats? Thanks!
Bacris 06-19-06, 08:24 PM	Just a technical question: what program are you using for the layouting? If it's just text and tables, you could use plain LaTeX. Or are you using some layouting program, like Scribus or even :eek: MS Publisher ( ;) ) ? I guess using a layouting application even for the text&tables only pdf makes it much easier to include the graphics and art in the print version, or am I mistaken? For the initial draft, where all we're really doing is injecting different portions in and editting, we're just using Word. Once we're ready to actually create the PDF, I intend to use the Adobe suite of products for a nicely formatted document. (Working for a printing company helps when you want to use document editting software ;))
Bacris 06-19-06, 08:50 PM	I do have 2 questions: Unfortunately, at this time, we're not revealing more of the content (in particular the other classes), although I will say that a good part of our work is to fill in some of what we feel is missing in the current psionics system. Stay tuned for future possible previews as we get closer to our release date :)
Azzy 06-20-06, 12:14 AM	For the initial draft, where all we're really doing is injecting different portions in and editting, we're just using Word. Once we're ready to actually create the PDF, I intend to use the Adobe suite of products for a nicely formatted document. (Working for a printing company helps when you want to use document editting software ;)) I understand that... Otherwise I would never have developed my l33t QuarkXPress skillz. :)
Ra-Tiel 06-20-06, 02:21 PM	Hi. === For the initial draft, where all we're really doing is injecting different portions in and editting, we're just using Word. Once we're ready to actually create the PDF, I intend to use the Adobe suite of products for a nicely formatted document. (Working for a printing company helps when you want to use document editting software ;)) Ok, but then I wish you good luck with it (I know how *****y Word can be with larger documents ;) ). Since I've started toying around with LaTeX, I've learned to value the advantages of plain simple ASCII files. :) === Greetings, _Ra-Tiel.
Tempest Stormwind 06-22-06, 09:30 PM	I just got the PHB2 today. Dear lord, was our work *that* similar to stuff in this book? I mean, the Marksman's timing on gaining power levels is identical to the Duskblade's (another full-base-attack class that can cast from level 1 and gets up to level 5 effects), although the marksman's manifesting is much weaker overall (she gets better class features to make up for it (they all stand on their own instead of enhancing manifesting), and her power list is more diverse and subtle). Our attempt at fixing Polymorph involved a new subschool with overarching rules, although our take on the spells themselves is different. Our mantra feats behave in similar ways to the Combat Form feats (taken as a whole, that is -- only Combat Strike allows for an instant-end). We'd been working on it for a while before the PHB2 came out, too...
Bacris 06-22-06, 10:07 PM	Of course, WotC did the predictable and included no psionic support, so not like there's really that much overlapping :)
Nephlite 06-22-06, 10:09 PM	That was why I asked about those mantras originally. They seem similar partially, but yet different at same time. Really, the old cliche of great minds think alike could be what happened. The same muse inspired you both so to speak. My only complaint about PHB 2's is not enough examples/instructs to make our own Subpoymorphs. Like Lizardfolk same or ogre same. But yeah Duskblade was made well: as a 5th level spell they get disintegrate (but everyone else who is a full caster already had it). Back to your project: So does the Marksmen have two good saves or 1? I am curious about it and all.
Surgo 06-22-06, 10:26 PM	Are you guys still looking for psionic material? If so, I'll probably be sending a bit over your way from the Community Sourcebook Project.
Bacris 06-22-06, 10:28 PM	At this time, we're not accepting more content, as we still have to edit and fully playtest what we have, and with our current amount, we're already looking at well over 120 pages of content.
Tempest Stormwind 06-23-06, 02:11 AM	Back to your project: So does the Marksmen have two good saves or 1? I am curious about it and all. It was mechanically balanced against the ranger, most of the time. Inspirations were ranger and psychic warrior, although most of it wasn't inspired by existing classes at all. I can, however, say this. There are several movie, radio, comic book, and game characters that the Marksman can encompass. These include: The Man With No Name (Clint Eastwood's gunslinger) Bullseye (from Marvel's Daredevil) Green Arrow (DC comics The Shadow (yes, the one best known for the radio plays, though there's several movies) the Ghosts (the StarCraft unit -- did you catch my outright reference to that in the adaptation? The idea is the lore, not so much what ghosts do in-game but in story.) Robin Hood (naturally) Legolas (though he's better suited for Ranger in general, you could make him pretty easily with a marksman) (Those are just the ones off the top of my head. Most of these showed up, in varying strengths, in the development process, at least on my end.) So, check out some of those and you'll get a feel for the marksman (somewhat; it has areas that are all its own). Remember that the Marksman uses bows, crossbows, and thrown weapons as specialties, and can make any one of these a perfectly valid choice (yes, it actually can make a crossbow a weapon worth choosing over others). Depending on your focus, members of the class can feel very, very different from each other. (GAH! more PHB2 woes! one of the feats EXACTLY thematically mimics one of the Marksman signature abilities! And it carries the name of another one! GAH!!!)
Haldrik 06-25-06, 12:21 AM	I can't wait to tap into Untapped!
Redeemer of Ogar 06-25-06, 06:06 PM	(GAH! more PHB2 woes! one of the feats EXACTLY thematically mimics one of the Marksman signature abilities! And it carries the name of another one! GAH!!!) You'll be changing the matching name of course. ...sorry about the difficulties!
Archimedes314 06-25-06, 08:44 PM	I can, however, say this. There are several movie, radio, comic book, and game characters that the Marksman can encompass. These include: The Man With No Name (Clint Eastwood's gunslinger) Bullseye (from Marvel's Daredevil) Green Arrow (DC comics The Shadow (yes, the one best known for the radio plays, though there's several movies) the Ghosts (the StarCraft unit -- did you catch my outright reference to that in the adaptation? The idea is the lore, not so much what ghosts do in-game but in story.) Robin Hood (naturally) Legolas (though he's better suited for Ranger in general, you could make him pretty easily with a marksman) If it can come anywhere close to John Preston from Equilibrium, I will buy it for that alone.
Tempest Stormwind 06-25-06, 11:36 PM	If it can come anywhere close to John Preston from Equilibrium, I will buy it for that alone.I have yet to see Equilibrium, but if he's similar to these, the Marksman can probably pull it off. The Marksman's power list is based off of stealth, cunning, mobility, and a few staple gish powers. There's even a few interesting, and deliberate, omissions on the list, which should make things... interesting. ...Note to self: Once this baby's out, make sure the web material includes gun styles...
Mercurius 06-26-06, 11:56 AM	...Note to self: Once this baby's out, make sure the web material includes gun styles... Hell yes! :drool:
Redeemer of Ogar 06-28-06, 12:41 PM	What is MADNESS? Well, madness is seeing this thread fall to the second page! I didn't think that was ever going to happen! :bump: BTW, I'm glad you've moved away from the title MADness, I kept seeing it as Multiple Ability Dependancy Madness and wincing. :gah:
Tempest Stormwind 06-28-06, 02:22 PM	Well, you'd be happy to hear that the next preview -- the last one -- is in the works. Expect to see it next week. (By the way, John Preston, done by the CO boards (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=9469120&postcount=391). You'd have to approach it differently for the marksman, but marksman levels would allow an interesting twist on it. I'd have to see the movie before I made final judgement, though -- action movie heroes almost never work as single-classed characters due to their versatility.)
AdventChild 06-28-06, 04:51 PM	i have a question, since you will be releasing an online version first that can be purchase, what methods if any you have to prevent lets say someone that buys the version to destribute it for free by other means such as IRC channels and other p2p applications and really underground webpages which i wont dare to mention here for the sake and safety of my internet life.
Bacris 06-28-06, 05:45 PM	None, but then again, how often do you see people recommended Hyperconscious, which costs around 7-10 dollars? People will find ways to pirate anything... either folks will be willing to spend the couple dollars for a PDF or will try to get it for free. Our belief is that the fan base will support it regardless of the means of acquiring it illegally, because, to be honest, if they don't and the pdf version doesn't do well, we likely won't be making a print version, which will have additional material that won't be in the download version...
angellis_ater 06-29-06, 05:18 AM	I'll probably download the Untapped Potential from a P2P network, simply because I generally get a higher speed. That doesn't mean I won't be paying for it though. If Tempest, Disposable, Bacris and the rest feel better about it I'll make sure to refrain from that kind of downloading and keep to retrieving it from their server. As Bacris said - its part of deciding whether its worth the money. For me, it is.
Bacris 06-29-06, 09:22 AM	The server we'll be housing the pdf on is using a shared T3 pipe, so download speed should be pretty good ;)
zavin 07-03-06, 09:17 AM	i only have one word that will sound like two. AWE-SOME!! I will be purchasing this baby as soon as it's out.
Deekin 07-04-06, 03:31 PM	Originally Posted by Tempest Stormwind ...Note to self: Once this baby's out, make sure the web material includes gun styles... Woot! D20 Modern Stuff!
Tempest Stormwind 07-04-06, 04:07 PM	Actually, I haven't played d20 Modern, so I may have to solicit some help on that part. On the other hand, given the nature of those signature styles, I may do just as good a job watching Noir for ideas... We're working on the third and final preview now, actually. Sticking to our guns, a different author will provide this one.
Jaime_Wolf 07-04-06, 08:58 PM	You authors of this are my heroes. Not only have I been looking for more psionic content since the XPH came out, but recently I've had incredible trouble finding a ranged build suitable to my tastes. Thank you, I think I can look forward to a western style character wielding a huge revolver and missing two fingers from one hand (for anyone who understands the reference, -high five-). Oh, and if you're ever in need of more money for the print book, you can count on me to buy the PDF version two or three times to help if necessary.
BlaineTog 07-04-06, 09:24 PM	Actually, I haven't played d20 Modern, so I may have to solicit some help on that part.:eek: Dude, go get your gaming group and start playing a d20 Modern game. Right now.
Istarion 07-04-06, 09:57 PM	Thank you, I think I can look forward to a western style character wielding a huge revolver and missing two fingers from one hand (for anyone who understands the reference, -high five-). But first you must create some psionic lobster monter for all this boards enjoyment :D. OT: More psi material... Sign me in (please... no more brainy monsters XD)
Deekin 07-05-06, 01:44 AM	And before you ask, yes there are 3.5 conversions of the Psionic classes floating around the internet. I have one that Nerdvanna started and I finished hidden somewhere in the 14.5 Gigs of gaming material on my laptop.
Diplominator 07-05-06, 05:59 PM	But first you must create some psionic lobster monter for all this boards enjoyment :D. OT: More psi material... Sign me in (please... no more brainy monsters XD) Go then, there are other planes than these.
RadicalTaoist 07-05-06, 07:03 PM	And ladies and gents, it is my pleasure to present: Untapped Potential Preview III This is going to be our last such preview before the release of the PDF. Included below is the table of contents for UT, as it now stands, and a few Q&As I thought might be helpful. Best of all, the back cover page text as written by Tempest Stormwind. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Using This Book Hyperconscious Discipline vs. Devotion Rules Replacements CHAPTER 2: RACES Psionic Racial Paragon Classes Dromite Paragon Duergar Paragon Elan Paragon Half-Giant Paragon Maenad Paragon Xeph Paragon Psionic Racial Specialty Levels Dromite Ranger Dromite Society Mind Duergar Egoist Duergar Fighter Elan Monk Elan Psion Half-Giant Psychic Warrior Half-Giant Soulknife Maenad Fighter Maenad Wilder Xeph Monk Xeph Soulknife CHAPTER 3: CLASSES The Devoted Psion (class variant) The Marksman The Society Mind Epic Level Psionic Characters CHAPTER 4: FEATS New Feats ASSASSIN TRAINING CRAFT COGNIZANCE CRYSTAL CRAFT CRYSTALIC COMMUNAL EXEMPLAR DECEPTIVE BLADE DUCK AND WEAVE DUELING BLADE DURABLE MIND FOCUSED DREAMER FORMBINDING HARMONIC RESONANCE IMPROVED POWER BY PROXY LEND HEALTH MASTER OF MANTRAS MIND BLADE KENSAI PERSONALITY PURGE POISON MASTERY POWER BY PROXY RECKLESS BLADE RENEWAL SHIELDWARDEN OF MAENAE SOUL BUFFER SUBCONSCIOUS REFLEXES VIGILANCE OF THE GIANTS WEB OF INFLUENCE XEPH BLADESTORM Mantra Feats BLADE OF THE CHAMPION BURST OF THE CHEETAH CLAWS OF THE TIGER EYE OF THE STORM FANGS OF THE COBRA FINAL STRIKE OF THE EXECUTIONER PATIENCE OF THE HUNTER PRESENCE OF THE MASTER RIDING THE WAVES ROOTS OF THE MOUNTAIN SPIRIT OF THE ATTUNED STUDENT OF THE MIND SWIFT AS THE SHADOWS WAY OF THE EMPTY PALM WAY OF THE WARRIOR WRATH OF THE DRAGON New Epic Feats ENDURING NETWORK EPIC CONNECTIONS EPIC MEDITATIONS GREATER SOULBINDING GAZE IMPROVED NETWORK CHAPTER 5: PRESTIGE CLASSES Amalgamist Anyform Savant Energist Enlightened Exemplar Enlightened Protector Knight Meditant Maverick Voidshaper Phenotype Impressionist Psicrystal Imprinter Sighted Seeker CHAPTER 6: NPCS AND ORGANIZATIONS NPC Class: The Augur Organizations Cosmic Echoes The Mindwatch The Enlightenment CHAPTER 7: POWERS Psion/Wilder Powers Psion Devotion Powers Psychic Warrior Powers Society Mind Powers POWER DESCRIPTIONS New Powers CHAPTER 8: ITEMS Crystalics Crystal Hilts Impression Crystals New Psicrowns New Universal Items New Psionic Artifacts New Special Materials CHAPTER 9: MONSTERS Astral Juggernaut Ego Dragons Pathos Dragon Logos Dragon The Nameless Fear Cerebral Stalker Dreamscarred Fear Spawn Larval Nameless Augmented Nameless Template Dire Nightmare Prestige Class Psionic Constructs Crystalline Construct Sonic Construct The Mindborn Appendix Open Gaming License (OGL) And the back cover. What secrets of the mind await just over the horizon... This book is your ticket to new psionic adventures, whether your characters have embraced your mind's potential wholeheartedly or have merely scratched the surface. For the player, this initial electronic release has a host of new options for psionic characters, ranging from more than forty new feats and fifty new powers to ten new prestige classes and three new base classes: The Devoted Psion (a specialist variant on the existing psion), the Marksman (a deadly and versatile ranged warrior) and the Society Mind (a psionic support character that lets the party operate as if they were one being). You'll also find lots of support for the existing naturally psionic races, in the form of feats and unique class levels. For the DM, you will find an interesting selection of psionic monsters, organizations, and NPCs (along with a new NPC class to showcase psionics) for your game, along with anything a player may find useful. While the material herein is easy to incorporate into any existing game with psionic rules, it also provides a quick way to introduce psionics to a new game: The Dreamy Isle of [Rajrin]. This is a locale that is designed to be easy to insert to any game, and serves as a featured adventure setting for the material herein. Untapped Potential: New Horizons in Psionics is for use with the following Dungeons and Dragons (r) books: Player's Handbook(tm), Dungeon Master's Guide(tm), Monster Manual(tm), Expanded Psionics Handbook(tm). Hyperconcious: Explorations in Psionics by Bruce R. Cordell (Malhavoc Press) is optional, but recommended. Q&A with RT Q: Wait a sec, where have you been on the list of authors? A: I've been with the project from the beginning - just decided to stay of the list for the surprise factor. :P I'm a psionics fan and reserve the right to mess with people's heads. The important thing is that you can come to me with questions as much as any of the other authors. Q: Does that mean the Society Mind going to be in UT? And are we going to see anything extra or just what's on the boards? A: Yes and more. It's a base class, and while all the Society Mind material seen on these forums is included, we also added additional support for the class in the form of psionic items and additions to the power list. Q: What is this Rajrin? And why isn't it in the Table of Contents? A: Rajrin is the working title for the little region we cooked up to have a setting to use our material in. I can't tell you more than that it's an island, nearly all of what's found in the book can be found there, and it can be easily transplanted or adapted to other settings as you wish. It will be showcased in a little adventure that isn't appearing in the PDF version - you'll have to grab the print. "His mind is calm, like a tranquil lake, devoid of even the slightest stirring. The world around him is not as fortunate." Seeking to master the power of his own mind, the knight meditant spends much of his time deep in meditation. Through this rigorous study, he gleans new and powerful ways to enhance his psionic focus and the different mantras such forces can power. While essentially any warrior who studies his inner strength can become a knight meditant, psychic warriors, marksmen, soulknives and monks most frequently follow the path. The original Knights Meditant were followers of Lord Davik Marcellus Kai, Grandmaster of the Order of the Resolute Shield, Rajrinís first exceptional warrior to discover the truth behind the schools of meditation -- that all are, in fact, reflections of a greater whole, and by embracing that whole, one can better approach his own perfect self-image in combat. Lord Davik developed an ill-deserved reputation as a renegade for breaking with tradition in this sense, and was stripped of his noble titleÖ but every year more and more open-minded or dedicated students find his training grounds and turn to his path. Today his path is counted among the elite fighting styles of Rajrin, and the Knights Meditant (still referred to in some circles as Davik's Knights) are revered for their calm, poise, and prowess on the battlefield. Q: That Nameless Fear monster Tempest previewed last time has a lot of entries in the Monster chapter. What's up with that? A: If one is going to introduce a supervilllainous source of psionic evil to compete with Illithids, Aboleths, and the rest, one might as well give them an equal footing. I can't say too much, but the Nameless are a powerful and dangerous monster with advancement rules unique to their species. Also included in their section are related monsters, including a PC-playable race. Q: What's this talk about devotions? A: For clarity, we use the term 'discipline' to refer to the equivalent school of magic. This is to clear up the confusion about the term disciplines, which has been used in reference to both powers of the general discipline (i.e. Precognition, Offensive) and those available only to the appropriate psion (i.e. Hypercognition). The lists of powers available only to the appropriate psion are referred to as the devotion lists. The psion is mechanically unchanged. All you need to do is relabel "Discipline" to "devotion" in the class table. The Devoted Psion variant introduced in this book represents psions that have focused even more on their devotion of choice, damaging their ability with other disciplines but granting them a number of cool, unique advantages. Q: Why is Hyperconscious mentioned in the Introduction? A: As OGL material, Hyperconscious provides a number of unique options. It was our decision to produce our material to be totally compliant with Hyperconscious. It's in no way required to use any part of Untapped Potential, but its use is recommended and supported unanimously by the crew. Q: Will Untapped Potential work with material from Wizard's Complete Psionics sourcebook? A: You'll see after we release the web enhancement. ;) Q: So, does that mean any of the CP nerfs are taken into account in UT? A: Nerfs? What nerfs? I don't see any nerfs. You catch any nerfs, Tempest? Bacris? DH? (in other words, no)
BlaineTog 07-05-06, 07:25 PM	Kewl. Any idea what the price will be?
Tempest Stormwind 07-05-06, 07:28 PM	Kewl. Any idea what the price will be? Matters of this sort will be addressed on the website, as mentioning things like this would bring us closer to violating forum CoC than we'd like to get.
wolfie-kun 07-05-06, 07:37 PM	Having Tempest link to the previews from the original post would be great...now I have to search for them :rolleyes: Anyway, sounds good. Depending on price, I may get the PDF version.
BlaineTog 07-05-06, 07:47 PM	Matters of this sort will be addressed on the website, as mentioning things like this would bring us closer to violating forum CoC than we'd like to get.Gotcha. I'm off to the website, then!
Bacris 07-05-06, 08:46 PM	all pertinent information is now available at our website (including the previews and updates about the authors!)
Tempest Stormwind 07-05-06, 08:47 PM	Speaking of websites, two new updates. 1) I've updated the first post with links to the three previews. That was my intent from the get-go, but I had to make sure the second part was in place first. 2) The new website is up! Come and visit us at Dreamscarred Press (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com). ...yes, that name does appear in the ToC. ;)
wolfie-kun 07-05-06, 11:10 PM	Speaking of websites, two new updates. 1) I've updated the first post with links to the three previews. That was my intent from the get-go, but I had to make sure the second part was in place first. 2) The new website is up! Come and visit us at Dreamscarred Press (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com). ...yes, that name does appear in the ToC. ;) Not sure if this is something that can be fixed, but the formatting on the previews makes me want to gauge my eyes out...
AdventChild 07-06-06, 01:27 AM	i agree with wolfie-kun :ayyyy!:
Tempest Stormwind 07-06-06, 01:32 AM	Which is why I added the links to the front page. The important parts of the webpage are those that are not mirrored on this thread, after all. ;)
seric63 07-06-06, 03:26 AM	bump :confused: :confused:
seric63 07-06-06, 03:27 AM	I own mac, will i have problems if i buy the PDF.
angellis_ater 07-06-06, 05:48 AM	Dreamscarred Press related questions: 1. Will DSP publish more materials or is it just for this one release? 2. If yes to the above, what would the submission guidelines be?
pfooti 07-06-06, 07:46 AM	I own mac, will i have problems if i buy the PDF. I, too, have a Macintosh, and I have never had problems purchasing PDFs or using secure PDFs in the past, so I would say that no, you probably won't have trouble with the PDF, provided your version of Mac OSX is reasonably up to date. Adobe acrobat reader and Preview both will view secure PDFs.
Bacris 07-06-06, 09:17 AM	A pdf is a pdf is a pdf, mac or windows. The only thing that matters is if the fonts are properly embedded (which I'm fully comfortable with ensuring :)) So the one PDF will work for mac or windows, so long as you have a PDF viewer (such as acrobat reader)
Bacris 07-06-06, 09:23 AM	Dreamscarred Press related questions: 1. Will DSP publish more materials or is it just for this one release? 2. If yes to the above, what would the submission guidelines be? Check your inbox :)
Decree Of Boredom 07-06-06, 11:08 AM	I'd also be interested in getting the submission guidelines.
Tempest Stormwind 07-06-06, 11:51 AM	Further questions relating to the business side of Dreamscarred Press should take place on the Dreamscarred Press forums, not the Wizards of the Coast ones, lest we violate the CoC. I'm working on more editing right now, so, if you'll excuse me...
AdventChild 07-07-06, 01:03 AM	Well, all i need now is to obtain a copy of that in other to implement it in the psionic campaign setting book. :ayyyy!:
Milo HoBo 07-09-06, 12:52 AM	:bump: and the boards at dreamscarred are up.
Tempest Stormwind 07-09-06, 02:30 PM	And on a related note, this thread will not be updated during the board upgrade process (from July 9th through July 11th). Further questions or comments regaring Untapped Potential can be made on our forums at Dreamscarred Press (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com). After the board update is completed, we'll resume answering content questions (but not business questions) on this thread.
Bacris 07-12-06, 10:50 AM	FYI, a short Q&A series with the authors is now posted at the Dreamscarred Press Forums (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com/forums/) .
Bacris 07-16-06, 11:31 PM	Well, given that the board upgrade is indefinitely postponed, if there are any further questions, feel free to ask :)
Tempest Stormwind 07-16-06, 11:37 PM	Considering tomorrow's the release date and the initial PDF is done... ;) Total pagecount: 170, plus five pages of legal/formalities. (There's a couple of blank pages to make sure that we have a buffer for art while keeping chapters opening on the right of the pagespread, but those are rare.) And I should probably clarify: Essentially all the crunch is Open Game. For more details, check out Dreamscarred Press itself. I'll be updating the main post with more information soon.
seric63 07-18-06, 02:06 AM	thanks for the love to soulknives, your explaination on prestige classes and how they could be use by soulknives is something expanded handbook should had.
Tempest Stormwind 07-18-06, 02:29 AM	Actually, that was our own design decision. Doing what we did with that allows soulknives to multiclass without castrating themselves, and to make the class look at least appealing (somewhat) to other manifesters... hopefully without making the class itself superfluous (i.e. wizard in the PHB: No one goes past level 5 in Wizard). That's a nonofficial ruling, so it's not how it works in the existing game. But the soulknife doesn't work in the existing game very well, so...
Rageheart 07-18-06, 10:25 AM	Awesome Job guys! Just out of curiosity how are sales going? (ie. how many sold in the 1st day...etc.) ...as a side note I do wish there was a full BAB melee class now that the Marksman get some Full BAB lovin... maybe there is one but I haven't seen it yet... ?
johnboy069 07-18-06, 10:40 AM	I am relatively new to psionics. I own the 3.0 Psionics book, XPH, and the Complete Psionic books as of now. That being said, I have a huge love for the soulknife, erudite,etc. I am now addicted, if you will, to anything psionic. I want to congratulate you for all of your hard work, and to let you know that I will being standing in line to get a copy of the print version. Mad props to all of you. :D
Bacris 07-18-06, 02:00 PM	Awesome Job guys! Thanks! Just out of curiosity how are sales going? (ie. how many sold in the 1st day...etc.) ...as a side note I do wish there was a full BAB melee class now that the Marksman get some Full BAB lovin... maybe there is one but I haven't seen it yet... ? No full BAB melee psionic class, I'm sorry to say. Maybe in the future - although there are several floating around on the boards :) As for your question on sales, I'm afraid that's a little too close to violating CoC, so that'd be more appropriate at the Dreamscarred Press forums.
Tempest Stormwind 07-18-06, 02:02 PM	Awesome Job guys!Thanks!Just out of curiosity how are sales going? (ie. how many sold in the 1st day...etc.)Well enough. More than that I can't say due to FOIP. ...as a side note I do wish there was a full BAB melee class now that the Marksman get some Full BAB lovin... maybe there is one but I haven't seen it yet... ?The decision to develop the full base attack class as a ranged fighter was mine. The list of full-base-attack melee base classes is: Barbarian -- Melee. Fighter -- Melee, although it can do a simple ranged character and feel like a tank while doing it. Paladin -- Melee, unless you use odd sub levels. Ranger -- Melee or ranged, but always feels like a fighter/rogue/druid mix Hexblade -- Melee with some ranged capacity in the form of spells. Swashbuckler -- Melee. Samurai -- Melee and hardwired into it. Duskblade -- Melee focused with offensive spell support. Knight -- Melee and so proud of it he makes others nearby become melee too. Soulborn -- Melee, might pass (poorly) with range. Isn't there a niche missing? There's no class which is primarily ranged here. The ranger can come close, but it always feels like a diverse woodsman tracker rather than the things the Marksman approaches. That, and there are plenty of good archery-related powers, particularly from expanded books (like Living Arrow and Perfect Archery). We DID give the Marksman some of the melee characters' ability in tying up the opponents -- Cover Fire does that, and it's a strong ability (you can envision it as it's described in the text, but the inspiration for it was the ubiquitous "DANCE!" shots from westerns) -- but he's built to encourage the tactics and cunning that a normal archer would have. You'll note he has no powers that directly boost his AC, for instance, but has plenty that provide miss chances, mobility, stealth, and even a new one that can provide cover. I feel that this was sufficiently unique mechanically to justify a base class for it. I also feel that if we had done ANOTHER melee class, it would have felt less original.
Seerow 07-18-06, 02:23 PM	Now I'm just left wishing I didn't have to wait 2 months to be able to get the book. That's the trouble with being under 18 and not having a credit/debit card to your name =P Still, from your previews it's definitely good work, and I can't wait until I can get it.
Vietnow 07-19-06, 11:28 AM	I'd say that Madness is amazing. Seriously, Untapped Potential seems like an excellent resource and from even from reading up to the Half Giant Psychic Warrior I have a question that may make my next character ridiculous. Focused Attack (Su): At 8th level, when a Half Giant Psychic Warrior expends his psionic focus as part of a melee attack, he may apply two abilities that require the expenditure of psionic focus to that attack instead of one Now combined with the ability of the Psychic Weapon Master of having a bonded weapon with containment. Does this effectively mean that it is possible to expend 2 focuses for the result of 4 feats affecting it. If so I like a lot.
Bacris 07-19-06, 11:38 AM	Currently, yes. I'm going to bring this up, however, as that could mean 6 abilities at once (regular focus, psicrystal containment, bonded weapon), which is a bit stronger than we'd intended.
Redeemer of Ogar 07-19-06, 03:14 PM	Currently, yes. I'm going to bring this up, however, as that could mean 6 abilities at once (regular focus, psicrystal containment, bonded weapon), which is a bit stronger than we'd intended. Consider that you need all the feats for Containment and PrC qualification, PLUS needing the feats for which you can expend focus. I'm assuming here that you can't expend focus twice to trigger the same feat twice on one attack (ie, double Greater Psionic Weapon), does everyone concur with that assumption? Seriously though, if someone goes to this much effort to be able to use lots of metapsionics (remembering the cost adds as well) I say more power to them. In combat, I doubt you'd be expending more than 3 at once anyway. *steps back and waits for someone from the CO board to prove me wrong*
Bacris 07-19-06, 03:23 PM	TWF + Deep Impact + Greater Psionic Weapon would be pretty hairy... so expect an errata :)
Redeemer of Ogar 07-19-06, 03:33 PM	TWF + Deep Impact + Greater Psionic Weapon would be pretty hairy... so expect an errata :) Again, for that level of focus and feat expenditure I don't have a problem with it, esp. considering you need to spend 2 full turns even WITH hustle to get your six foci back. *shrug* Try it out in a game, your mileage may vary.
Scion of Coldshard 07-19-06, 03:37 PM	TWF + Deep Impact + Greater Psionic Weapon would be pretty hairy... so expect an errata :) I would definately like to see this build in order to figure out if it was actually overpowered or not.. it looks like a whole lot of cost for some nice benefits overall (and I mean a lot of cost). If it does need errata are you going to limit it to one use per round? or a chance to keep focus after expending it?
Tempest Stormwind 07-19-06, 03:47 PM	I would definately like to see this build in order to figure out if it was actually overpowered or not.. it looks like a whole lot of cost for some nice benefits overall (and I mean a lot of cost). If it does need errata are you going to limit it to one use per round? or a chance to keep focus after expending it? It was intended to allow a half-giant psywar to pick up focus feats without having to spend two feats and a round every time to use them in combat -- effectively freeing him up to focus more on other aspects of psionics OR other aspects of combat... i.e. the psywar to a T in a race that favors it. The errata is going to allow it to function only on your own focus -- the feat Psicrystal Containment will still get you what it had before (one extra focus at the cost of two feats), instead of doubling it (which is what this does pre-errata). If you have a bonded weapon, same deal. Clever psywars with Hustle can still do this more than once per round, you'll note. Or they can combine it with existing focus tricks for truly spectacular maneuvers. But it's not a free ticket to double-effects on focus feats. It's still a sweet, sweet ability, practically an epic feat pre-epic (the other powerful-build race, goliaths, have a racial ability that's also on par with an epic feat, by the way, but it's a less-combat-useful one available from level 1). Consider what a psywar can already do, and now let him do that with, effectively, two extra feats and a free round.
Calain80 07-19-06, 04:03 PM	I also got my copy. Thanks for your work. It is worth every cent of it's price! :D
DisposableHero_ 07-19-06, 06:22 PM	I'm going to bring this up, however, as that could mean 6 abilities at once (regular focus, psicrystal containment, bonded weapon), which is a bit stronger than we'd intended.Actually, the way I read it, the bonded weapon becomes your psicrystal, so you can't have three foci that way, only two as normal. Its a massive cost in feats though, and I mean massive, think about it: At a minimum to be consistent with the feat you need: Psicrystal Affinity Psicrystal Containment Psionic Meditation Psionic Weapon Deep Impact Greater Psionic Weapon You must also be a half giant, which removes a potential feat in being human. Thats forgetting that it requires you to give up a power known and causes a the same penalties as the shaken status when used. This allows you to: A) make one attack as a touch at +6d6 damage that also knocks the target down on a failed save B) make two attacks as touch attacks a +4d6 damage. Seriously, take a rogue with two weapon fighting who is flanking his target at level 9 and you're talking about 4 attacks at +5d6 damage each, its conditional sure, but more repeatable than this. I don't think the ability is that over the top, and I think it'll work out to be an attractive option but not in excess of what is currently available in most cases. Also note that it can't be used with metapsionics, only with abilities that modify an attack.
Kresalak 07-19-06, 11:04 PM	Well, now that this has come out, I should be buying it tomorrow. I can't wait.
Asadeseth 07-20-06, 02:58 AM	got it, and have just enough time to paruse it but not read in depth yet. Btw love the art, vaugly reminds me of the stuff in the moonsea book that just came out, the stuff at the begining of each chapter, very neat.
AlienFromBeyond 07-20-06, 03:16 AM	Wow, I so did not know that this had gotten released until I looked at my subscriptions. Congrats guys, sounds like you did good. I'd go order it myself, but alas the lack of payment is in the way. I'll just wait for it to come out in print, and then I can look at all the pretty psionic pictures :).
Asadeseth 07-20-06, 04:40 AM	less pictures, more just realy neat tribalesk glimphs
Redeemer of Ogar 07-20-06, 03:06 PM	Wow, I so did not know that this had gotten released until I looked at my subscriptions. Congrats guys, sounds like you did good. I'd go order it myself, but alas the lack of payment is in the way. I'll just wait for it to come out in print, and then I can look at all the pretty psionic pictures :). Aww c'mon, you can skip one meal for this baby. It's not much more than a happy meal! :)
Tempest Stormwind 07-20-06, 03:18 PM	I can't go into too many details here due to the CoC, but two things: 1) the amount or quality of the pics depend on how well the PDF goes, and 2) those who have the PDF can get the book for less when it's done. The glyphs (technically we saw them as psionic tattoos), as nice as they are, aren't the best art we can use. They'll stay there, certainly, but I'd rather have an actual picture of Ceruth with a crossbow in a sniper's posture or of a sighted seeker mentally tracking her prey from the shadows than an amorphous sigil. :p
ampman 07-20-06, 04:08 PM	Got to admit, I was at first skeptical about this. I thought 'oh, great; another group jumping on the pdf bandwagon'. But since it cost only about one and a half comic books :) , I decided why not. I was pleased with what I saw. It seems to be a well thought out book, and I was also suprised to see that you didn't leave out the other great third party psionics supplement, Hyperconscious. That makes using both of these much easier. Now its left up to me how to integrate this product with the Beyond the Mind's Eye supplements (still have a soft spot in my heart for the horribly out of date Constructor prestiege class :D ). I do have a question, though: How would you suggest using the Formbound and Shapechanging powers/subdiscipline to substitute for the shapechanging arcane spells?
Bacris 07-20-06, 04:48 PM	Got to admit, I was at first skeptical about this. I thought 'oh, great; another group jumping on the pdf bandwagon'. But since it cost only about one and a half comic books , I decided why not. I was pleased with what I saw. It seems to be a well thought out book, and I was also suprised to see that you didn't leave out the other great third party psionics supplement, Hyperconscious. That makes using both of these much easier. Very glad you like it! I do have a question, though: How would you suggest using the Formbound and Shapechanging powers/subdiscipline to substitute for the shapechanging arcane spells? We'll actually have replacements for those spells in the print release :) They just weren't quite ready for the pdf release.
Tempest Stormwind 07-20-06, 05:15 PM	Hey! The constructor may be two years old, but it's still a good call in general! :p (...says the current player of a shaper aiming for Constructor and/or Astral Zealot...) But even if we couldn't address the Mind's Eye material, we did consider them in playtesting. For instance, we DID consider Shaper 5 / Constructor 10 / Phenotype Impressionist 5 when we designed that PrC, and the sangehirn was the main reason behind the Lend Health feat for society minds (although I admit the original version did work with fast healing, and I STILL maintain it isn't a problem, we did get complaints on that, so we adjusted it and included the feat). All of us are diehard Mind's Eye fans. :) I'm actually working on the spell version of formbinding effects as I type this. You can see its original appearance in Preview 2 -- and the "let sorcs be better than wizards at this" mentality will be preserved for the print version.
AlienFromBeyond 07-20-06, 07:43 PM	Aww c'mon, you can skip one meal for this baby. It's not much more than a happy meal! :) Oh, it's not the money. It's the lack of giving payment, i.e. no credit card.
Jaime_Wolf 07-20-06, 08:22 PM	Untapped Potential is perhaps the most amazing D&D resource I have ever seen. Great job guys. All 170 pages are filled with interesting concepts and balanced mechanics, I did not find one single thing that I looked at and said "meh, that's okay, but not something I'm interested in". My only complaint is that it will take me so long to be able to try out everything in the book as it presents so many options. I'm certainly looking forward to the print copy. Also, a quick question. Would it be possible to combine the effects of the Marksman's lightning draw with Rain of Arrows using Permanent Focus from Hyperconscious? I realise that one can't normally combine the effects as one requires maintaining psionic focus and the other requires one to expend it, but would the feat allow it?
xawlus 07-20-06, 08:52 PM	after your finished with the details on untapped potential, will you be thinking of making a psionic campaign setting
Nephlite 07-20-06, 10:41 PM	AlienFromBeyond: Oh, it's not the money. It's the lack of giving payment, i.e. no credit card. Do you have any banks near you? You can open a checking account if you have money (but remember they charge you 5 bucks at beggining of each month). I used BB&T bank card. :) So you could open a checking account now and than close it in september or later if you don't want one any longer. You should have bought the PDF by than I'm assuming. Back to the book: I bought the PDF. First PDF I ever bought. I hope I can buy the book (i like holding the info instead of looking at thew screen) assuming I have enough after buying college supplies/books/food. But assuming price isn't too bad I'll be getting it. I love the paragons, the racial specialties, and all that other cool stuff. A 1/2 Giant soulknife with roots of strength would make a great multiclass into a Knight. You guys on my intial reading haven't disappointed me.
Milo HoBo 07-21-06, 01:35 PM	As a customer who is loving this book I want to point out a few things about getting the PDF early. 1. It's cheap. 2. It bumps up money to be used on the books actual publication. 3. You can help make this book better by finding things needing erreta. How many times has it been discussed that WotC should start sending out initial copies to make erreta before hand? Alot, and this is how they are doing it. 4. You get a copy of the material beforehand! 5. I think they have decided to give discounts on the actual book if you get the PDF.
Tempest Stormwind 07-21-06, 02:38 PM	As a customer who is loving this book I want to point out a few things about getting the PDF early. 1. It's cheap. 2. It bumps up money to be used on the books actual publication. 3. You can help make this book better by finding things needing erreta. How many times has it been discussed that WotC should start sending out initial copies to make erreta before hand? Alot, and this is how they are doing it. 4. You get a copy of the material beforehand! 5. I think they have decided to give discounts on the actual book if you get the PDF. Just to clarify, we did a bunch of editing beforehand, but some things have slipped through the cracks. As primary editor, I apologize for that, and as cliche as it sounds, "you should have seen it before we hit it". And yes, number 5 is completely true. Working on the logistics, but true nevertheless. I'm more concerned with the fact that in spite of having essentially all our feedback be positive, there isn't a single review posted yet...
Malancthon 07-21-06, 03:58 PM	Something of note: the editing for it is better than some WotC books.
Bacris 07-21-06, 09:05 PM	after your finished with the details on untapped potential, will you be thinking of making a psionic campaign setting I don't know, to be honest... most of the design team is great at crunch, and ok at fluff ;) A campaign setting is mostly fluff, so that puts us a little bit out of our element. I wouldn't be opposed ot it, however...
sroske 07-21-06, 10:54 PM	Just got it through the site. Had to start a pay pal account, but that's alright. I've skimmed through it. Very good. Very good. My next campaign will put a fair bit of it to use for sure. I like having psionics on the rare side of things, but , of course, psionic PCs attract psionic events by virtue of the paths they walk. I wonder how the society minds and the cosmic echoes will scale down to make them relatively rare.
Tempest Stormwind 07-21-06, 11:08 PM	I wonder how the society minds and the cosmic echoes will scale down to make them relatively rare.Cut the cosmic echoes completely if psionics aren't at least reasonably common throughout the planes and have society minds' powers use the psionic mechanics but draw upon completely different flavor. Let them draw their power from communing with nature, harmonizing their souls with the world around them, acting as an avatar of nature's communal side. Instead of a worldthought network, it binds everyone through their common ancestry in nature, allowing them to communicate instinctively and operate "as a pack" instead of "as one". Alternatively, they could be as signature to the dromites as fighters are to dwarves, and the technique could simply be hive-minding. This is one supported somewhat in the rules, too, and would require slightly less reflavoring (but is less robust flavorwise). You could add an interest in geneology and selective breeding, showing the REAL big picture, but this runs the risk of turning the society mind into The Psionic Bene Gesserit (as if they weren't already psionic). Finally, and this is a RADICAL departure from the rest: They're modron-based. This works best if you tie other classes to other sources -- for instance, warlocks to either the fey (chaos) or the fiends (evil). Society minds, with their harmonious nature, telepathy, and knowledge of their place in part of something bigger, seem very much lawful at first glimpse (in truth, a network isn't any more related to order than its individual components. A chaotic Smind would be one who views freedom and individuality as the best way for an individual to grow, and would view the best networks as those who stem from such environments). In fact, their abilities -- treating the party as part of a whole and telepathically coordinating maneuvers -- come very close to the archetypal modrons. Or, I suppose, the formians, if you'd rather go with the less-interesting outsiders. The society mind is in several ways a cross between psi-bard and psi-druid, and can easily be played between the two. (If you followed its developments on this board, the Cosmic Echoes were a three-minute hackjob I threw together to give structure to the Epic Connections feat. At the insistence of the other authors, I fleshed it out some into a lower-level organization for PCs in the book (I'd argued to cut it instead, since I'd already joked around with the Echoes being somewhat of a fantasy Internet, complete with telepathic spamming and, umm.... let's just say that Unearthly Terror's as-written flavor of unnatural images of pure horror happens to match at least two other no-save disturbing internet image memes that I'd rather not describe in polite company). They're hardly essential to the Smind -- the Smind was developed on its own and stands on its own just fine.)
Jaime_Wolf 07-21-06, 11:43 PM	Bene Gesserit Now THAT is a prestige class that needs to be made. Though it might perhaps need to be epic to include all the niftiness. Not to derail the conversation or anything, but if anyone's seen such a thing, could they PM me a link? Ah, and I'm looking forward to playing a marksman in an upcoming game, though I'm starting to wonder if I want to perhaps play a soulknife instead with that deceptive blade feat. I love the flavour and the mechanics of the feat, it really stands out to me, which is impressive because I have to say that I think Untapped Potential stands out against any rulebook. Given the time I've had to read over it now, I'd rank it higher than Hyperconscious and, if it wasn't entirely necessary to play a psionic game, I'd put it above the XPH. I've virtually demanded that all of my friends buy copies :D
Kresalak 07-21-06, 11:58 PM	I'm more concerned with the fact that in spite of having essentially all our feedback be positive, there isn't a single review posted yet... Soon as I have time to read the whole thing, I promise to write a review.
Deekin 07-22-06, 12:06 AM	BUY THIS BOOK NOW!!!! Now that that is out of the way, I frelling LOVE this book. Plus, I'm the DM so i get to play as all of these! This book is as better than Hyperconcious!
Tempest Stormwind 07-22-06, 12:34 AM	Now THAT is a prestige class that needs to be made. Though it might perhaps need to be epic to include all the niftiness. Not to derail the conversation or anything, but if anyone's seen such a thing, could they PM me a link?I haven't seen one, no, but it would be interesting. Still, the hallmark abilities of the individual Bene Gesserit, at least as I understand them (I had to stop reading partway through Heretics, he kinda lost me with God Emperor), are limited prescience, amazing control over their own minds and bodies, great insight into others, and the Voice. Each of these is already in the game in some way. It's just a matter of collecting them together. (I say this as one who HAS used some of the BG tricks RP-wise to enhance my characters. For instance, back in 3.0 I had one psion (savant (the old kineticist) with ITCK secondary disciplines of psychometabolism and telepath) who, when asked how difficult it was to be trained as a psion, used the "can you wiggle the fourth toe of your left foot without moving any of the others?" line.) Ah, and I'm looking forward to playing a marksman in an upcoming game, though I'm starting to wonder if I want to perhaps play a soulknife instead with that deceptive blade feat. I love the flavour and the mechanics of the feat, it really stands out to me, which is impressive because I have to say that I think Untapped Potential stands out against any rulebook. Given the time I've had to read over it now, I'd rank it higher than Hyperconscious and, if it wasn't entirely necessary to play a psionic game, I'd put it above the XPH. I've virtually demanded that all of my friends buy copies :DThanks! We did our best. If you do choose to play the marksman, tell us how it goes, okay? We did test it, but there's only so much testing that can be done inside one tiny team. (I've been a vocal proponent of releasing stuff early to the CO boards to see where it breaks and then fixing it -- we did this with the metamorphosis change during one of its many revisions (sadly, they zeroed in on the five-minute-conversions we did for the spells instead of the POWERS themselves... but when we did get feedback on the powers, we found a hole and fixed it). Since the marksman was kept relatively secret, we couldn't do that, and I fear that it might be a bit too strong at high levels. ...Then again, levels in marksman are levels that could be PrC levels, so we'll see.)
Jaime_Wolf 07-22-06, 12:49 AM	Actually, the high levels will get quite a bit of testing, it's an epic game, level 30. I'll be sure to post about how the first session goes as soon as the DM comes back (he's currently two states away). I might suggest however that you explicitly state whether Lightning Draw and Rain of Arrows can be combined with the use of psicrystal containment or permanent focus from Hyperconscious, it seems like one is an outgrowth of the other, so I think a line such as "You cannot combine the benefits of this ability with those of Lightning Draw." or something similarly specific to Rain of Arrows.
Tempest Stormwind 07-22-06, 01:06 AM	Actually, I wrote it so they DO stack if that situation works. Thus, if you could make four attacks normally, five with rapid shot, and six with Lightning Draw (which also lets you nock five arrows in a Manyshot instead of four, but with the penalties of 4), and you use Rain of Arrows, congratulations, you now fire twelve for that round (or nock 10 in a Manyshot), provided you invested at least two feats to do this with your focus. At the level that shows up at, it shouldn't be a problem compared to the casters or a properly built melee beast*, especially since the marksman's rather fragile; take a close look at that power list and you'll see no AC-boosters, for instance, and that tiny amount of PP means that you can't rely on Vigor to compensate for the d6 and worse armor than rogues. Technically, you could also combine either of the above with Force-charged Fletching or with Burst Arrows as well, although it'd cost a hell of a lot of PP (I'm especially interested in this: it was originally 1pp per round, not per shot, and this only changed because there's a LOT of great ways for archers to do crazy things with their shots already). Off the top of my head you wouldn't be able to combine Force-charged Fletching and Burst Arrows, even with both feats, simply because the former requires you to target an opponent and the latter requires you to target a square (plus AoE trips seem a bit beyond an expend-focus ability). I'd allow the combination of Burst Arrows and Cover Fire, though it may sound odd -- sort of like Clint Eastwood going "Dance!" with explosive rounds. I favor things combining in general, by the way: Martial characters get enough of "this effect doesn't stack" as it is, while casters stack like nobody's business. Melee and ranged synergy is necessary for the character to remain competitive. I think the best of the styles is the simplest (the crossbow -- it was also the first I wrote) simply because you can combine all four abilities if you want (although the fourth is essentially an extension of the third). The thrown weapon style is similar, as illustrated in its fourth ability. (Aside: Yes, unstoppable force is similar to PHB2's Penetrating Shot. I wrote it before the PHB2 was released, though, and I think I like our version more.) Commander: My word that's a big nasty. Crossbowman: I'll need the flying carpet and ten minutes. ... Crossbowman: Problem solved. Commander: ...and they're sending HOW many troops? Bowyer: I'll need the flying carpet and ten minutes. ... Bowyer: Problem solved. Commander: Dammit, we need five more minutes! Thrown-Weapon Specialist: I can buy you thirty. Thrown-Weapon Specialist's player: Pass me every d20 in the room. *Sadly, epic play always seems to come down to the casters, mostly due to Epic Spellcasting. The only melee classes that seem at least reasonably useful in epic to me would be the Frenzied Berserker, the Dervish, and possibly the Revenant Blade. It'll be interesting to see if the marksman can stand up to that, with or without PrCs.
Asadeseth 07-22-06, 02:45 PM	Well went to kinkos and had them make a booklet out of it for me, nice and convent easy to cary around and read. Now that I've had "some" time to read it, I found the socity of the mind very interesting. While I've herd of the idea befor on the forems I've never actualy read it befor. It would fit perfectly for this race I have called the Uminat, a human offshoot thats kinda like a borg/athasian halfling mix, though that may be a bit over the top to discribe them. But the race does posses a form of comunal empathy with wich they partualy comunticate their feelings and ideas (at least subconsisely) with one anouther. Sence their favored class is any one psionic class of their choise this one would be a real benafit to them.
angellis_ater 07-22-06, 08:51 PM	Overall, considering the feats, classes, Prestige Classes, powers and ideas presented in this book and in relation to the XPH which is (in my eyes) a perfect 10 when it comes to D&D books... ...Untapped Potential just made the XPH scoot over and share that nice comfy place at the top. Excellent book in so many ways. I am taking this point from a "text-wise" position, but looking at the HEFTY price (sarcasm) of 5$ for over 170 pages of well written material I don't NEED pictures to be happy. I'm happy with this! :-) Note: This book almost made me want to play a traditional Soulknife. As "in-the-class". THAT is a good pointer since I spent hours upon hours working on the "Mindblade as Feats" project. :-) -- So, to the authors and others: Great work guys!
Indivisible 07-22-06, 10:12 PM	I just got it yesterday and it is SO worth it! EDIT: I hope you don't mind that I linked Dreamscarred Press in my sig to help spread the word.
DwarvinJedi 07-23-06, 12:34 AM	Just bought it today, but haven't really looked at it much, at first glance, nice work guys!
Bacris 07-23-06, 12:45 AM	...Untapped Potential just made the XPH scoot over and share that nice comfy place at the top. Excellent book in so many ways. I am taking this point from a "text-wise" position, but looking at the HEFTY price (sarcasm) of 5$ for over 170 pages of well written material I don't NEED pictures to be happy. I'm happy with this! :-) Note: This book almost made me want to play a traditional Soulknife. As "in-the-class". THAT is a good pointer since I spent hours upon hours working on the "Mindblade as Feats" project. :-) -- So, to the authors and others: Great work guys! Now that's some high praise :) Thanks, Angelis_Ater... and also thanks for the help with the corrections :)
angellis_ater 07-23-06, 07:53 PM	Helping out with the corrections for this book is just one step away from the true "Open Source" mentality. By helping you, I help myself and all others. We all benefit.
Marcus Smythe 07-23-06, 10:24 PM	Ill give a more detailed response in another week or so.. sorry its so slow, but I like to let stuff cross-pollinate before I attempt to judge anything. For now? Excellently happy. Some of the stuff is not immediately useful to me, but well done. Some of the stuff is going to generate -can I can I hunh hunh hunh- conversations with my GM (Im considering taking the kineticist PRC, for example.. and I -hate- loosing caster lvls!). Intial question: How does the 'does not stack with other reduced cost effects' rule from the Devoted Psions cost-reducing ability interact with the 'free augmentation' ability found in the Kineticist PRC? (Sorry for lack of page refs) On the whole? Two thumbs up. Make a hard copy, and I will own it.
Tempest Stormwind 07-24-06, 01:19 AM	The devoted psion's doesn't stack with other cost reducing effects, such as Student of the Mind (a mantra) or the Torc of Power Preservation. This led to some problems with the Energist, which was supposed to stack with everything (since it's both high-level and focused on energy damage powers, and was supposed to make them, you know, viable late-game). This led to some unusual wording about "free augmentation" rather than cost reducing effects. However, due to the way it's worded, neither ability allows you to exceed your ML, even when used together. So, a devoted kineticist 15 / Energist 5 with Heightened Attunement as one of his energy masteries could manifest an energy ray for 2pp, have it only deduct 1 (from Discipline Expertise), and behave as if it were a 7pp ray (from the +5 free augment). This is now comparable, somewhat, with the wizard (who uses Shocking Grasp for 5d6 or Magic Missile for 5d4+5 for 1pp, equivalent), although it requires a PrC to do it. In the most extreme case (ML 21 -- 19 base, +1 from Discipline Expertise, +1 from Improved Attunement), he still couldn't exceed 21d6 without metapsionics or other energy masteries, but he would only need to spend 16 pp to accomplish this (and since he manifests powers for 1pp less due to Discipline Expertise, this only deducts 15pp from his daily reserve). This also leads to some interesting elements regarding metapsionics, since the "free augments" are PP you don't have to pay to get damage -- meaning they're PP you can spend on other options, such as metapsionics. This means that in the above example, since he was spending 16 power points (technically), he could still tack on +5 from other sources, including catapsi or metapsionic feats. You can't do this with other formal "augments", though (including Enhanced Energy), as those actually are augments instead of external costs. Recall that to do this, he must maintain an energy attunement, which is a maintain-focus thing, and while he's attuned, he loses access to one of the four energy options -- and the benefits described above apply only to one of the remaining three choices. I figured the loss of versatility -- the key benefit cited in why psions make excellent blasters -- was worth the increase in stamina for that particular type of boost. It does lead to some nice killer options in the end (ESPECIALLY with Irresistable Energy!), but do note that this is energy damage in a late-game PrC (level 12, just like archmage). ...On an unrelated note, the idea of "free augmentation" was bouncing around in my head ever since I noticed the Torc and ML debate. It seemed a far more natural way to go, since it retained the ML restriction inherently. It showed up in the energist as a way to get around the devoted psion's "doesn't stack" bit, but given the chance, I might redo it to operate EVERYWHERE in the book, and preferrably throughout psionics as well. EDIT: Tenth page by default forum settings. Wooo!
Marcus Smythe 07-24-06, 10:20 AM	Im not 100% comfortable with the idea that the free manifesting of the energist allows violation of the metapsionic cap, even if only for metapsionics. You've slightly confused me with you response. It was always my understanding that, given: A: PPs spent on base power (plus augmentation) B: PPs spent on metapsionics, and C: Manifester Level A+B could never be greater than C. Now, you have stated that the ability of the energist allows 'free augmentation', that is to say an increase in the value of A that is not reflected by an increased PsP EXPENDITURE on the part of the Psion... And that much I'm comfortable with. But the sense I take from your post SEEMS to be that: A may be no greater than C A+B MAY be greater than C, but by no larger an amount than the amount of free augmentation granted by the energist. It seems cleaner to just let the free augment either not allow you to break ML cap at all.. or go ahead and violate it freely. In either case, the outcome is clean, rather than leading to situations where 'Ive spent 15 PsPs, am doing 20 dice. I cannot do more dice, because that would take me over the augmentation cap.. but because some of the 20 dice didnt come from PsPs, but free augmentation, I CAN shoehorn on 5 points of metapsionics'
Bacris 07-24-06, 10:33 AM	As the guy who made the Energist with Tempest's help, let me dive right into this one... First we have Improved Attunement, so his ML essentially = his Psion + Energist level, despite the loss of a ML at level 1. So, at 20th level (Devoted Kineticist 15 / Energist 5), we have an ML of 20. Next, from Heightened Attunement: These free points cannot allow you to spend more points on the energy power than your manifester level. So at 15/5, we have 5 free points, but not above 20 pps. As a 15th level Devoted Kineticist, we have +1 ML and -1 pp from Discipline Expertise. So our ML is now 21 (19 from class levels, +1 from Devoted Kineticist, +1 from Energist) for Psychokinesis powers of the appropriate energy type, 20 on other energy types, and 18 on all other disciplines. With the Energist Heightened Attunement, that means he could spend 16 power points and get 5 free pumped in (putting him to 21) and then have Discipline Expertise kick in and put him at 15 actual points spent. Whether these PP are spent on augmentation or metapsionics, the limit is still to 16 pp with 5 pp from Heightened Attunement. Personally, I do not feel the 1-2 bonus PP from Discipline Expertise should allow you to exceed the ML cap. I will discuss changing this in an errata. Cancel that - the example specifically allows you to go over the ML limit - I forgot about that when Tempest and I worked out the logistics... So you could spend up to 22 "virtual" power points - 5 free from Energist, 1 free from Discipline Expertise, for a total actual spent of 16.
Rageheart 07-24-06, 11:21 AM	With UT being OGC would it be alright to code into PCGen's standard Lists? I personnally could code much of it myself for my personal use, however the professional Code Monkeys working on the project (... not to be confused with Codemonkey Publishing(tm) ) would be much better at it :) Imagine being able to create your Marksman in PCGen and/or create your Ferroplasm Items in the Item Customizer. ...so kewl.
Marcus Smythe 07-24-06, 11:57 AM	Bacris, thank you very much for clearing that up. That is very close to how things were working in my head, though what was going on in my head was much more poorly defined and unclear. Both of you, all of you.. thank you for your efforts and your product. Best $5 U.S. I've ever spent. Ranks right behind the $25 U.S. I spent for the 3-movie RoTK LoTR release party/12 hr vacation in middle earth as 'best bang for buck' entertainment dollars. Thank you.
Tempest Stormwind 07-24-06, 01:17 PM	Marcus: I don't see anywhere where Bacris is exceeding his ML limit... He should still be limited to 21pp effects inside that discipline. However, to clarify: What happened in my case is that the power is treated as if it were augmented by those free 5 points. Meaning if I pay 16pp to manifest/augment, I get the same effect as if I'd paid 17, or even if I'd spent 21. I misread that last night when I wrote this, and assumed that those weren't actually considered "spent". Thus, you can ignore what I wrote above about the buffer for metapsionics (I thought you could spend 16 (to get it to behave like 21pp) and then spend up to 5 extra points in things like metapsionic effects. This didn't make any sense to me this morning upon rereading it. Sorry for the confusion.) Rageheart: I don't use PCGen in general anymore, but it's Open Game. Who are we to stop you? :) Do note, however, that the mechanical material WILL be expanded for the print version. In what ways, we can't be certain of (for instance, until I was revising the cerebral stalker into the voleur, we had never considered the thing being a playable race, but after reading it, it looked so damn cool that I'm tempted to cook up a lower ECL version of it for PC use.)
sroske 07-24-06, 08:05 PM	What do I do with all the proofreading errors I'm catching? I'm finding many. I've worked as a editor from time to time, so my eyes always catch the little (sometimes major) mistakes that comes with producing a work of this size. Editing is never finished, so I understand how so many are in the present pdf. Is there a yahoo group or something to post errors? I don't want to repost things that have already been caught. Or, does it matter?
Tempest Stormwind 07-24-06, 08:19 PM	What do I do with all the proofreading errors I'm catching? I'm finding many. I've worked as a editor from time to time, so my eyes always catch the little (sometimes major) mistakes that comes with producing a work of this size. Editing is never finished, so I understand how so many are in the present pdf. Is there a yahoo group or something to post errors? I don't want to repost things that have already been caught. Or, does it matter? Trust me, for every one you've got, I found ten in the original draft. Head over to the Dreamscarred forum and submit them for errata. I'm actually combing the whole book with a highlighter as I type this for little things (and big things) before we repolish and send to ENworld for a review. Any help is, of course, appreciated.
Bacris 07-25-06, 08:38 AM	Yeah, seriously... I kept a series of documents for editting... to keep track of changes, back up, etc... There was Chapter 3 Then Chapter 3 reviewed Then Chapter 3 final Then Chapter 3 final 2 Then Chapter 3 final 3 Then Chapter 3 final 3 for real Then Chapter 3 final 3 for real 2 And that was just one chapter with 3 classes! The editting on this guy took almost as long as the creation of the actual content.
Zemyla 07-25-06, 10:15 AM	I have a question about the secured PDF system. I frequently use the school's lab computers, and keep all my stuff (for lack of a better word) on an external hard drive. Will it break the PDF if I have to move from one computer to another?
Bacris 07-25-06, 10:48 AM	It shouldn't cause a problem.
sgt_mango 07-29-06, 08:00 AM	VITAL MESSAGE KEY TO SURVIVAL OF THIS PROJECT- Don't put any thri-keen stuff in it. They aren't ogc. No 'kreen lovin'? : ( Well, here's hopin' that a non 'kreen-having supplement lives up to hype. *pushes purchase button*
DisposableHero_ 07-29-06, 11:27 AM	No 'kreen lovin'? : ( Well, here's hopin' that a non 'kreen-having supplement lives up to hype. *pushes purchase button*Expect the boards based web stuff to have plenty of UTP Kreen love for you.
Tempest Stormwind 07-29-06, 02:10 PM	No 'kreen lovin'? : ( Well, here's hopin' that a non 'kreen-having supplement lives up to hype. *pushes purchase button* Including thri-kreen could have ended up with us being sued. I love the 'kreen myself, but we aren't risking a lawsuit to include them. ...but there is a web enhnacement we're working on. ;)
Mercurius 08-04-06, 05:54 PM	I haven't gotten a chance to read all of this, but I do love the idea of a society mind/enlightened Exemplar (which, in the description of the Enlightenment organization, you referred to as an Enlightened Disciple, btw...). I'd love to play one of those, and grab Leadership and get a bodyguard from the other branch of the Enlightenment... I may have just found a new character to play instead of the horrible Necromancer Cleric and her mummy cohort if/when my dervish finally dies (not likely!).
Tempest Stormwind 08-04-06, 06:37 PM	The Enlightenment PrCs are actually from this board, where they were originally the Disciple of Auppenser and the Fist of Auppenser (the FR lost god of logic and reason). By changing a few elements mechanically and writing a new organization (technically, "the Enlightenment" is just a placeholder, as its true name is an n-dimensional philosophical/mathematical construct that can only be pronounced telepathically....), they appear as they do in this book. However, we went through four different renames for the Exemplar. I'm glad the only relic of those changes showed up in the shortest chapter*. And it has been already caught and revised -- as soon as I can finish with a few other technical elements (such as inconsistencies in the NPC stat blocks), it'll be updated in the actual book (which is why we gave people more free downloads). That said, mechanically, I'm glad it turned out as well as it does for the society mind. After a certain level, network range is superfluous if all you're doing is dealing with your party and creatures you directly encounter (i.e. you won't need more than medium range and about 5-10 creatures most of the time). The enlightened exemplar provides a significant boost to the society mind (half again as many powers known, and from multiple lists!) and has a lot of manifesting potential to boot -- but watch yourself on that oath, as the best society mind powers (and all the offensive ones) are mind-affecting, along with using your worldthought network offensively. (On a side note, thanks to Spirit of Many, your network powers are NOT mind-affecting within the network itself... even if most of them are usable on willing targets only.) *Organizations may be the shortest chapter, but the print version has got some expanded ideas that showed up since publication, and will probably make an enormous splash in the community -- unusual to say the least about an organization chapter. An example of this is being developed for the web enhancement right now, actually, so you'll see it in action before the print version comes out.
eanelen 08-05-06, 02:44 AM	Hey, I was just looking at the Enlightened Protector, and I noticed that the requirements have a Mind Blade option, would it be unbalancing to replace the bonus expanded knowledge feats with Bonus Feats from amongst the Mind Blade feats?
RadicalTaoist 08-05-06, 11:36 AM	they were originally the Disciple of Auppenser and the Fist of Auppenser (the FR lost god of logic and reason). *chuckles* lost god indeed...
Tempest Stormwind 08-05-06, 12:49 PM	Hey, I was just looking at the Enlightened Protector, and I noticed that the requirements have a Mind Blade option, would it be unbalancing to replace the bonus expanded knowledge feats with Bonus Feats from amongst the Mind Blade feats? Not at all. In fact, I had that written down in one of my draft notes and it seems to have slipped. We're working on the text revision; until that comes out, you may take any feat that you meet the prerequisites for that requires the ability to shape a mind blade or deliver a psychic strike (including Deceptive Blade, Dueling Blade, Reckless Blade, Mind Blade Kensai, Xeph Bladestorm, and Blade of the Champion, along with the feats from Complete Psionic).
Marcus Smythe 08-05-06, 02:59 PM	Thoughts on the Energist: It seems that there are 3 basic was to build out an energist.. 1.) Direct Damage, Single-Target "Railgun". Focus on making powers do more damage (d12s just cry out for maximize power), making damage types irresistable, and on cutting the amount you pay for your powers. Synergizes nicely with Favored Energy, and the fact that your mantle has only one 'flavour'. Likely has alot of different powers, but tends to use the same special effect on all of them. Lacking Irresistable Energy, probably uses highly modified Energy Rays and Energy Currents. (I love energy current...) 2.) Multitool "Combat Enginner" Deblitiating Energy and the energy-admixture style powers are necessary here. Probably also has irresistable power on at least one power.. probably energy missile, for high save DCs on their debilitating effects. Youll probably want penetrating energy as well, simply due to the mixed damage types youll be doing with some of your debuff nukes. The law/chaos energy effect could also be good, here, in place of penetrating energy. Likely mostly uses 1-2 (the ones made irresistable) powers, with every special effect in the book. 3.) AOE Damage "Drop 10 and fire for effect" Distinguishing Energy is a godsend. Again probably with Irresistable Energy, ideally on Energy Burst (40' radius point-blank IFF nuke? Where do I sign up!)... possible with the split area power (Humm... 1 20' sphere, or 2x20' HEMISPHERES... yay... more fireball!). Again, probably 1-2 powers used... might well go with Penetrating energy, Favoured Energy, and Spirit of the Attuned to nuke all day. Likely builds are probably going to be a mix of any 2 of the above. I especially like the idea of high-DC energy bursts via Irresistable Energy, coupled with the IFF properties of Distinguishing Energy, and the Stun effect inherit in Debilitating Energy (Sonic). Every round, stun most foes, damage all, hurt your friends not at all. Yum. Suggestions/semi-concerns Alot of the choices available to energists, and to kineticists in general, can tend to direct you into being 'the guy who throws lightning (or fire or whatever) and or being 'the guy who throws energy missile (or ball or whatever). Notably Spirit of the Attuned, Favored Energy, and Irresistable Energy. Ive watched my own character spend his career going from making alot of hard decisions every round into using the same, tooled-up power again.. and again.. and again. Modifying Spirit of the Attuned and Irresistable Energy so that they effect all powers might be a bit much, and Im not suggesting that they should be... but the effect can certainly be a bit disconcerting in play. Im not SURE this is bad (see 'lways to build an energist ideas above') but it certainly is a thing. For my own part, Im probably going to go toolkit... the truth of the matter is I'm finding with the right feets, gear, etc.. my ability to remove HPs from foes is getting high enough to present balance concerns with my fellow players (were a lowish powered crew), so flexibility, rather than further raw power, is probably my best route... (off topic, sorry) The other thing of interest is the missing ability... there isnt one that lets you ignore Power Resistance. Not sure what its stats should be, but comparing Energy powers to their no-PR Crystal X cousins, it shouldnt be much. Lacking such, you create a situation where the Energist, upon facing a 'real foe', despite spending his entire carerr in being 'the Energy Blaster what Energy Blasts at Midnight'... whips out the crystal powers and polymorphs himself into a bad knock-off of a metacreator whenever faced with any foe with Power Reistance (IE, pretty much every serious fight past lvl 12.. when the entry into Energist is Lvl 13) -EDIT- Rereading my post, let me simplify it to say 'All Energists should take either Irresistable Energy, or the Law/Chaos Energy, power.'.. since I was suggesting it for every approach.
Deekin 08-05-06, 10:56 PM	Hey, did you guys ever annonce this over on ENworld? Cus there are some people who only visit that board.
Bacris 08-05-06, 10:57 PM	We're finishing fixing the few minor typographical errors left and then we'll be advertising at ENWorld and having them officially review it, as well, for a non-psionic-board-fan view :) We only have 1 chapter left to fix, so we should have it over at ENWorld in about a week.
Bacris 08-05-06, 11:00 PM	Marcus, didn't mean to skip your post, sorry about that. You bring up some very valid points... and an option that helps against PR is definitely reasonable... We'll take it into consideration for the final release :) When I came up with the base concept for the Energist, it was "something to make blasting a viable option at high levels," and having to rely on non-energy powers for resistant creatures definitely doesn't fulfill that concept. (Big kudos to Tempest for working with me on fleshing that PrC out :))
sgt_mango 08-06-06, 03:34 AM	Including thri-kreen could have ended up with us being sued. I love the 'kreen myself, but we aren't risking a lawsuit to include them. ...but there is a web enhnacement we're working on. ;) Argh! I'm torn between my love the 'kreen, and my anti-love for being sued (empathically, or vicariously or something) But then there's the temperment of delayed gratification. *sigh* times are tough... In other news, well worth the newsstand price, and i look forward to a print version. Everything is better with illustrations. *thinks* *shudders* most things....
Marcus Smythe 08-06-06, 11:31 AM	Marcus, didn't mean to skip your post, sorry about that. You bring up some very valid points... and an option that helps against PR is definitely reasonable... We'll take it into consideration for the final release :) When I came up with the base concept for the Energist, it was "something to make blasting a viable option at high levels," and having to rely on non-energy powers for resistant creatures definitely doesn't fulfill that concept. (Big kudos to Tempest for working with me on fleshing that PrC out :)) Happy to be of use. I wish I could provide the same sort of depth of analysis on the other items in the book, but the simple truth is that I've little time, and a 12th lvl Kineticist in my regular game... so what spare cycles I have for gaming get devoted to the Energist. While were at it... look at the first two powers on the energist. Both have an 'augment for crowd-control/debuff effects', but the second one (while having a shorter list) Costs less, gets better effects, and doesnt involve splitting your damage into two types (cutting your damage into half cold and half fire always seemed to me a great way to loose even MORE damage on that outsiders resistances...) And in the last power... whats a 'demisphere'? Wouldnt the sphere created by energy ball be more properly reduced to two hemispheres? (Granted, two hemispheres, properly oriented, are as good as two full spheres, at ground level... but is it OUR fault all our foes orient themselves on a 2D plane? :)) Thats all I can think of at the moment. TTFN
Tempest Stormwind 08-06-06, 01:35 PM	Don't have a lot of time: It says "hemisphere" in my version.... but the word "demi" means "half". Valid concern on PR. Good call. (I reminded Bacris that there's a lot of things in here that bypass resistance in some way or other, but we didn't think about PR. Resistance tends to be the big problem in high-level play rather than PR, though PR can still be annoying, especially in epic play). The whole composite / debilitating thing is easy to look at: debilitating costs less, but you still have to deal with resistances. Composite is pretty much guaranteed to bypass some resistances and has a bonus augment, but costs more and doesn't have the boost to damage/variable save/boost DC/bypass hardness of normal energy choices. There was talk of having Spirit of the Attuned also change your Favored Energy type, but that was put on the backburner and forgotten. As is, you can simply expend your focus to take 15 on a concentration check to refocus -- selecting a different energy attunement. This means that an energist with Psionic Meditation (which isn't *strictly* needed, by the way, since Spirit of the Attuned is unique in that it lasts all day) can shift his energy mode in as little as a move action. It's not so much "the guy who throws fireballs" but "the guy who throws energy, at the moment focusing on fireballs". Favored Energy (and the CPsi reprint/upgrade, Privileged Energy) just specializes you a bit more, but no more than it already did -- and it isn't a required feat for energists any more than it is for existing kineticists. But I'm glad it's being well-recieved. It's clearly modelled after the archmage, but was designed (as Bacris said) as a tool for making blasting useful late-game. Kineticists already did that up to the lower-high levels, but it'll still peter out... until the energist fits in, which happens to be about at the same level that kineticist blasting feels weak again.
Marcus Smythe 08-06-06, 03:29 PM	Don't have a lot of time: It says "hemisphere" in my version.... but the word "demi" means "half". Valid concern on PR. Good call. (I reminded Bacris that there's a lot of things in here that bypass resistance in some way or other, but we didn't think about PR. Resistance tends to be the big problem in high-level play rather than PR, though PR can still be annoying, especially in epic play). The whole composite / debilitating thing is easy to look at: debilitating costs less, but you still have to deal with resistances. Composite is pretty much guaranteed to bypass some resistances and has a bonus augment, but costs more and doesn't have the boost to damage/variable save/boost DC/bypass hardness of normal energy choices. There was talk of having Spirit of the Attuned also change your Favored Energy type, but that was put on the backburner and forgotten. As is, you can simply expend your focus to take 15 on a concentration check to refocus -- selecting a different energy attunement. This means that an energist with Psionic Meditation (which isn't *strictly* needed, by the way, since Spirit of the Attuned is unique in that it lasts all day) can shift his energy mode in as little as a move action. It's not so much "the guy who throws fireballs" but "the guy who throws energy, at the moment focusing on fireballs". Favored Energy (and the CPsi reprint/upgrade, Privileged Energy) just specializes you a bit more, but no more than it already did -- and it isn't a required feat for energists any more than it is for existing kineticists. But I'm glad it's being well-recieved. It's clearly modelled after the archmage, but was designed (as Bacris said) as a tool for making blasting useful late-game. Kineticists already did that up to the lower-high levels, but it'll still peter out... until the energist fits in, which happens to be about at the same level that kineticist blasting feels weak again. 1.) RE Composite vs. Debilitating Energy Ultimately, I feel the question of damage type vs. resistance is one that the class itself renders moot... you -will- take penetrating energy, its as simple as that. I mean, I suppose you might not, but theres no good reason not to. Given that you will, the question between composite and debilitating is 'what secondary effects do I want to induce in my target, and what am I paying for them?' The usually better effects, coupled with the lower PsP Cost (and thus higher save DC, as well as higher damage), and the retention of the variable save type of the baseline energy powers I think makes debilitating energy strictly better than composite energy. As a user of the class, I may select Debilitating. I would only select Composite for flavor reasons (Personal pet peeve in all gaming... being forced to choose between 'fun and cool' and 'more effective') 2.) Spirit of the Attuned/Favored Energy Type: Yes, you can juggle your spirit of the attuned mid-combat.. but once your ignoring damage resistance (You.. DID.. take penetrating energy, didnt you? No? Okay, heres your Psychic Reformation Potion. Come back when your done.) its rarely going to be worth a move action and focus mid-combat to change damage types. Again, this isnt a complaint, per se.. simply an observation. If you want to be a 'lightning blaster', the class and surrounding feats support that. 3.) Irresistable Energy: I just liked Energy Missile and Energy Stun the way they were, pre-complete-psi. While I love having a choice that returns that functionality to a power, having it return it to only one power, especially when coupled with the 'debilitating energy' option, creates a character who is energy ball/energy burst man. 4.) Power Resistance I was just throwing that out.. if yall want to put in a PR busting version of Penetrating Energy for the print release, Id support it... I dont want my character throwing crystal powers as an energist! Not sure how much it would cost, but for the love of all that is holy.. make it an 'all energy powers' effect, rather than a 'pick an energy power' effect. 5.) Overall Assessment of Energy Master Choices: Composite Energy: Flavourful, and very flexible. I personally feel that having split energy types is a disadvantage, rather than an advantage. The 4 PsP cost for the augments lowers the save DC, and most of the augment choices are of limited utility. Might take on a dedicated 'battle control' build, probably in conjunction with Irresistable Energy to raise save DCs to the point where failure is likely. Debilitating Energy: Lower cost both to augment and to aquire than Composite Energy. Very good effects available, notably the immobilize in Cold (opposed by a STRENGTH CHECK! Sign me up...) and the sonic stun. Probably would take. Distinguishing Energy: Not fireballing your friends=good. Synergizes well with irresistable energy on a single, large AOE power, and with debilitating energy. Not necessary, as a 'single-damage-type, max-damage' school Energist would likely be able to find the right combination of movement and power to hit nearly all foes without endangering friends, but still a wonderful selection. Probably will take. Energized Feedback: Great at first blush, but then... truth of the matter is that you just dont get hit by elemental effects all that often, and when you do, its usually by things that are of that subtype (and thus immune to the backlash) and or by things that you were expecting to have it (Hmm.. red dragon. Mr. Cleric, your on..). Also, the focus costs increases the opportunity cost. The damage avoidance is very nice, but as a practical matter, the combination of vigor, a psicrystal, and share pain should already make most mid-high level psions highly resistant to death by pure damage. Probably wont take, but wish I could. Heightened Attunement: Goes very, very nicely with Favored Energy (Hyperconcious). More PSPs, and very cheap basic blasting. (1 PsP for 6d6+6, while not all that wonderful at those levels, is a great way to maintain some utlitiy as your psp pile wanes.. and your loosing alot of PsPs in your 5 choices through your levels as an energist, so savings is good) Probably will take. Irresistable Energy: Pre-Compled Psi Energy Missile.. how do I love thee... let me count the ways. Amazingly nifty in combination with debilitating and distinguishing energy, and something low level with a nice AOE, like energy burst. Ulitmately, though, its limited to one power per choice... and thus tends to encourage single-spell play. Probably wont take, unless in conjunction with the other two choices mentioned, for battlefield control. Metaphysical Energy: Nifty-Neato fun stuff. I especially like the fact that it simultaneously offests energy resistance on the left hand, and gives the possibility of very, very large damage totals on the other. A less-focused but more flexible variant of Penetrating Energy, below. Will take either this or Penetrating Energy, but not both. Penetrating Energy: Yum. Boom. The simple joy of fireballing red dragons to death knows no limits. The double-damage effect against vulnerable foes takes this from 'good' to positively schlock-mercenary levels of 'Id like a side of blam with that'. If you DONT take Metaphysical Energy, you WILL take Penetrating. If you dont take either, Ill pay for the psychic reformation until you get it right. Energists without either of these powers make baby Pun-Pun cry. Shaped Energy: Basically doubles your AOE, in terms of squares effected. Could use some clarification... can I overlap the areas, even a little? (sometimes Id rather overlap them, than have to lay down a whole nother 20' radius spread). If I DO overlap, do I do double damage to the people under both. (say no. please say no. Good god). Nifty, goes well with the AOE battlefield control blaster type (This, debilitating, Irresistable, and say the Widen Power Feat... yumm) Would take on an AOE nuke build. Final Thoughts: Good stuff. Very similar to the archmage, but doesnt give full progression and isnt nearly as powerful. This is okay, its easier to get into, and I kinda agree with the developers about full-casting-progression PRCs. I honestly bought the book for this PRC, and everything else is just value added. Cant wait to see what you do with the hard copy version. I will own it. -tips hat- Good day, good luck, and may you never fail a saving throw!
Marcus Smythe 08-10-06, 04:17 PM	RE: New flavours of Cognizance Crystals. I have some (albeit minor) concerns with the 2nd flavour of new cognizance crystals (I forget the name)... the ones that act to store powers within them, such that the psion who does not know those powers may later utilize them, albeit with his own PSPs, feats, etc. 1.) May the psion apply metapsionic effects to such a power? Let us assume Energy Ball (lvl 4 power, minimum cost 7 Psp's) stored in a crystal that can handle up to 6th lvl powers (11 Psps). Could the psion augment the energy ball to 9 PsPs, and then empower it for 2 more (total of 11 spent)? My assumption is yes. Could a psion that has a 'abilities cost X Psps less' effect (such as the one granted by the Energist, or by a Torc of Power Preservation, spend PSPs up to the cap of the crystal in question, and then go over that cap with his 'free manifesting'? My assumption is no. Fluff/Assumptions behind these assumptions: These crystals store the resonanting pattern of the power, just as that pattern is stored in the mind of the psion. These crystals, like a Psions mind and a real-world power line, have a maximum amount of power they may carry safely (and of course the psion can, with appropriate feats, overload his 'power line'). Thus, though he may apply feats or augment as he sees fit, the psion cannot, in normal circumstnaces, exceed the carrying capacity of the pattern-storage-and-delviery device, be it his mind or the crystal. (Question.. perhaps one could Overchannel the crystal? Probably not.. the feat is too specific. Though a feat FOR overchanneling such crystals, and risking their destruction/shutdown, could be nifty) Second Issue: While obviously of somewhat limited utility for powers which are augmentable, these little gems (pardon the pun) just cry out for storing all those low-mid lvl non-augmentable powers. Get the feat, craft the crystal, and then either have a long conversation with an NPC who knows the power you want in your rock (and probably give him some gold.. I imagine the cost to 'forget a power for a day' is about the same as the cost to 'use a power', since using a power makes alot of casters 'forget it for a day' (memorizers, which those costs are based on).. or reform yourself into the power, put it in the rock, and reform away. Both GP moderately expensive, and XP moderately expensive, but both cheaper/easier than locating and paying an NPC to use Psychic Surgery on you. (Overheard conversation from my table, when I found a Master-Psion NPC and convinced him to cram Astral Construct into my Brain, at lvl 5 (I wanted the feat back)) Fellow Character: Are you sure it is wise to allow a master-class psion into your mind, invited? Myself: Hes a master-class psion. I'm the psychic equivalent of a well-trained peasant. The invitiation to commit psychic surgery has no effect on the outcome... if he wanted to own my mind, he could have done that when we shook hands and said 'hello'. ((Okay, maybe funnier at the table, but you get the idea))
Bacris 08-10-06, 09:09 PM	RE: New flavours of Cognizance Crystals. I have some (albeit minor) concerns with the 2nd flavour of new cognizance crystals (I forget the name)... the ones that act to store powers within them, such that the psion who does not know those powers may later utilize them, albeit with his own PSPs, feats, etc. Mindstones :) 1.) May the psion apply metapsionic effects to such a power? Let us assume Energy Ball (lvl 4 power, minimum cost 7 Psp's) stored in a crystal that can handle up to 6th lvl powers (11 Psps). Could the psion augment the energy ball to 9 PsPs, and then empower it for 2 more (total of 11 spent)? My assumption is yes. Yes, so long as he has the feat and expends focus. Could a psion that has a 'abilities cost X Psps less' effect (such as the one granted by the Energist, or by a Torc of Power Preservation, spend PSPs up to the cap of the crystal in question, and then go over that cap with his 'free manifesting'? My assumption is no. My knee-jerk reaction to this one is no. However, by RAW, he can, so I'll bring up to the others about a possible clarification in there. Since he's only spending the final power point cost... this is the same argument as if using Torc allows you to break the ML cap. Second Issue: While obviously of somewhat limited utility for powers which are augmentable, these little gems (pardon the pun) just cry out for storing all those low-mid lvl non-augmentable powers. Get the feat, craft the crystal, and then either have a long conversation with an NPC who knows the power you want in your rock (and probably give him some gold.. I imagine the cost to 'forget a power for a day' is about the same as the cost to 'use a power', since using a power makes alot of casters 'forget it for a day' (memorizers, which those costs are based on).. or reform yourself into the power, put it in the rock, and reform away. Both GP moderately expensive, and XP moderately expensive, but both cheaper/easier than locating and paying an NPC to use Psychic Surgery on you. (Overheard conversation from my table, when I found a Master-Psion NPC and convinced him to cram Astral Construct into my Brain, at lvl 5 (I wanted the feat back)) Fellow Character: Are you sure it is wise to allow a master-class psion into your mind, invited? Myself: Hes a master-class psion. I'm the psychic equivalent of a well-trained peasant. The invitiation to commit psychic surgery has no effect on the outcome... if he wanted to own my mind, he could have done that when we shook hands and said 'hello'. ((Okay, maybe funnier at the table, but you get the idea)) Think of it this way - it's essentially the same as carrying a massive amount of power stones of those powers. But, they cost ~10-20x more and require you to spend the power points. If you don't mind forking out 1-9k for the lower level powers that don't need augmentations, it's an effective way to increase your powers known.
Marcus Smythe 08-10-06, 09:26 PM	You know, thats a really good comparison with the power stones... in the course of a career between the point you can afford them and the point you retire, yould likely be better served, $-to-effect, to just buy power stones. And yould save PsPs, too. I hadnt looked at it in that light, but purely in the 'increaseing powers known' light. Good call. And my apologies for the names.. usually I'm posting from work on break, and I dont have the PDF on my work computer, in the name of, well, getting work done.
Tempest Stormwind 09-04-06, 03:12 PM	Apologies for the bump. The final version of the PDF, pre-print, is complete and now available. Most of it is editing errors that I missed the first time through (many thanks to our errata submitters!), although some mechanical changes were made (mostly to the prestige classes and the powers). The biggest changes were made to the marksman, energist, and the Everyman power -- the others are essentially unnoticable unless you're really looking for them. Oh, and another big change -- the NPC stat blocks are set up for more ready use in an encounter. There've been some adjustments made to the format from the standard WotC version, to make the format a bit easier to follow (especially with regard to buffs and armor class). The monsters still use the old format, as will anything just being presented in future Dreamscarred products, but if the statblock is being used as part of an encounter, the new format will be used. We consider it the best of both worlds. This is the first, and last, major revision to the PDF before the print version, and has been submitted for formal reviewing.
DwarvinJedi 09-04-06, 03:40 PM	If we bought the earlier version, how do you get the new one without buying it again? Am I just blind?
Tempest Stormwind 09-04-06, 03:48 PM	If we bought the earlier version, how do you get the new one without buying it again? Am I just blind? This shouldn't be discussed here, but... Log in to the store again and check what you've bought. We've increased people's downloads so you can just download the new version, no charge. If you've bought it from us, you won't buy it again. Unless you want to upgrade to the print version when it's available -- and that'll be at a discount if we can manage it (we likely can).
Drascin 09-05-06, 03:07 PM	Finally managed to get a paypal account and buy the book. So far, it looks pretty good. The marksman seems like a very good class, and flavorful to boot (I haven't had time to read it thoroughly... yet ;)). I'm playing one as soon as I can. I'll post how it goes, if you don't mind - positive reviews always attract customers, and I want this book to go into print no matter what :P Oh, and when you publish the book with illustrations and everything, make sure to keep the runic engravings thingies. They look very cool :)
Bacris 09-05-06, 03:50 PM	We'd love to see the results of your use of the marksman, along with any other content :) Constructive Criticism helped us fix a couple items with the Energist and the Marksman already, as well as all the work that went into making the Society Mind the class that it is today.
Tempest Stormwind 09-05-06, 05:23 PM	I'd also like to announce that the web enhancement is progressing nicely. I'm aiming for an end-of-september release on that. It's dealing with Complete Psionic, along with the non-OGL XPH material (Thri-Kreen racial subs, anyone?) and a few splatters of other things here and there. Another thing I'm aiming to have done is samples of where to place each of the monsters in the two major settings. There's also a few special surprises in store that we're working on for this one that I won't say more on just yet. Given other inspirations, though, it won't be the only web enhancement. And if anything OGL-compliant does show up in the enhancements, they might be considered previews of print expansions. Maybe. ;)
FriendlyBiscuit 09-11-06, 12:25 PM	Woohoo Thri-Keen racial subs! Now if only I could convince players to take the plunge and grab a race with that kind of LA... V_V
Guroth the Forsaken 09-11-06, 12:47 PM	It might be a while, but I'm looking forward to getting a copy. :)
sir_dwar 09-29-06, 06:28 PM	Well, about time I posted again. Anyway, where do I get the pdf? I really want to play a githyanki (Plenty of conflict with a certian githzeri monk in the party:D ) marksman, renegade, mind you.
Tempest Stormwind 09-29-06, 06:44 PM	Well, about time I posted again. Anyway, where do I get the pdf? I really want to play a githyanki (Plenty of conflict with a certian githzeri monk in the party:D ) marksman, renegade, mind you. As the first post directs you, head to Dreamscarred Press (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com). Sadly, due to university work, an end-of-september WE date can't be met -- at least, not to the quality we want it to meet. It'll be more than the "this was cut for space" of the WotC enhancements -- one could think of it as a full set of rulings for integrating with the non-Open psionics rules, along with expanded material.
sir_dwar 09-30-06, 07:27 AM	Heh heh. Got to start reading more closley
Zerieon 11-17-06, 11:48 AM	Any prestige classes for... let's say Ardent in the book? Or new mantles?
Rageheart 11-17-06, 12:07 PM	Any prestige classes for... let's say Ardent in the book? Or new mantles? UT does not acknowledge the "Complete Psionic" source book, as WoTC did not make it Open Game... so sorry, no there aren't. (However, there could be something in the Web Enhancement that Tempest is working on...)
Tempest Stormwind 11-17-06, 03:24 PM	Any prestige classes for... let's say Ardent in the book? Or new mantles? Nothing unique to them, but ardents can qualify for most of the PrCs just like normal. Two prestige classes in the PDF (the sighted seeker and the knight meditant) and one of the two new ones for the print version can actually be entered without any manifesting ability at all, though. There's a couple adjustments needed for some (such as the Energist), but they work as is for most ardents. Depends somewhat on how you built your ardent, though, since they're *so* flexible in how they perform. The web enhancement will contain additional mantle-based support, on top of support for lurks, by the way.
Sonata 11-17-06, 09:23 PM	Nothing unique to them, but ardents can qualify for most of the PrCs just like normal. Two prestige classes in the PDF (the sighted seeker and the knight meditant) and one of the two new ones for the print version can actually be entered without any manifesting ability at all, though. There's a couple adjustments needed for some (such as the Energist), but they work as is for most ardents. Depends somewhat on how you built your ardent, though, since they're *so* flexible in how they perform. The web enhancement will contain additional mantle-based support, on top of support for lurks, by the way. I thought that the content in complete psi was NONE OPEN GAME CONTENT.
Tempest Stormwind 11-17-06, 09:32 PM	I thought that the content in complete psi was NONE OPEN GAME CONTENT. Correct. But we aren't charging for the web enhancement at all. We're working on release mechanisms -- and if worse comes to worst, we'll simply post that information here. I don't see any issues WotC's taken with their own, say, Deities & The Planes forum, where they've created tons of new support information for non-open books.
Soel Griffin 11-19-06, 04:54 AM	Question: I bought the pdf from Rpgnow and was wondering if the upcoming changes from their merger would affect me as far as the discounted price for the print version if it does not come out before everything is finalized. Also, how will I even go about getting the discount? Will some kind of update come through them, or should I just stay tuned here? (also for the web enhancement)
angellis_ater 11-19-06, 05:06 AM	Actually it is beyond the CoC for us to discuss matters like these on these boards, but please head over to www.dreamscarredpress.com and check at our forums. I can give you a short answer - No, the merger doesn't affect you.
Talen Lee 12-12-06, 04:17 AM	*shakes fist* How dare you get around to getting published before me!
angellis_ater 12-12-06, 05:22 AM	We dare and we do?
Bacris 12-12-06, 08:03 AM	*shakes fist* How dare you get around to getting published before me! General outrage over Complete Psionic gives great motivation ;)
Guroth the Forsaken 12-12-06, 08:09 AM	General outrage over Complete Psionic gives great motivation ;) :heehee QFT!
Talen Lee 12-12-06, 08:31 AM	I've been too busy with Magic writing to try and really write anything for D&D. What makes it worse is that I'm remembering that I was, in fact, considered a fairly decent writer for D&D, when in reality, I might just be rose-tinting the issue. Plus, CompPsi was a crappy book. Gee wow, Wizards producing a crappy book? If that motivates you to get published, you shoulda had a library by now ;p
Bacris 12-12-06, 08:33 AM	meh, the only books by WotC I was really interested in were the psi-based (hence having PsiHB 3.0, XPH, LoM, Races of Stone, Hyperconscious, ITCK, Mindscapes, etc). When you don't get a pure psi-based book for 2 1/2 years and then one devoted to psionics comes out and does it half-assed, that's motivation ;)
RadicalTaoist 12-12-06, 02:55 PM	TL, when your favorite part of the game gets no love for years and then they give it a padded splatbook with only 40% material that's not offal, I highly suspect you'll have an ISBN in no time.
Talen Lee 12-12-06, 07:06 PM	I suppose so. I think the issue is that I never expected all that much from Wizards. And my favourite part of the game - character - has been generally neglected by Wizards for some time now. ;p Then again, I also have come to be of the opinion that very, very few people want to hear from me.
Mercurius 12-12-06, 11:01 PM	I'm just disappointed that I didn't get in on maybe doing some artwork for the book. Seeing my stuff published somewhere would have been nice...
Tempest Stormwind 12-12-06, 11:34 PM	I suppose so. I think the issue is that I never expected all that much from Wizards. And my favourite part of the game - character - has been generally neglected by Wizards for some time now. ;p Then again, I also have come to be of the opinion that very, very few people want to hear from me. You see, here we get a fundamental difference: It's not the game designer's job to tell you how to play your character. It's the game designer's job to provide you with mechanical rules for when your character needs them, and perhaps, if we do a good job, inspire characters of our own from the mechanics. Mercurius: There was a hell of a lot going on, and we never got a submission from you...
Bacris 12-12-06, 11:37 PM	I'm just disappointed that I didn't get in on maybe doing some artwork for the book. Seeing my stuff published somewhere would have been nice... Send me a PM or email at jeremy.smith@dreamscarredpress.com - i'm sure we could work something out :)
Mercurius 12-13-06, 08:57 AM	Yeah, you're right. I never noticed a "looking for submissions" bit (probably because I didn't frequent Dreamscarred's boards), and it didn't occur to me to just send one in.
angellis_ater 12-13-06, 04:32 PM	There are more books in the works beyond Untapped Potential: The Mind Divine & Dreams of the Subconscious Check our website out at www.dreamscarredpress.com - Bacris just posted a summation of what's coming in 2007.
RadicalTaoist 12-13-06, 10:57 PM	aa, I don't know if that's CoC. Sounds too much like advertising.
FriendlyBiscuit 12-14-06, 03:15 AM	Really really really can't wait for the Dreams one. A more interesting title might be in order. Will it focus solely on the Psionic aspects of dreaming and whatnot, or will you guys touch on magic as well? Maybe even incarnum and vestiges and martial adepting or whatever? It'd be really nice to see Oneiromancy given a proper treatment, unlike what we saw in Heroes of Horror.
Bacris 12-14-06, 08:11 AM	Maybe even incarnum and vestiges and martial adepting or whatever? It'd be really nice to see Oneiromancy given a proper treatment, unlike what we saw in Heroes of Horror. Not going to touch most of the rest of the posts, but I will say that if it's not in the SRD, it can't be touched :( That means incarnum and ToM as a whole can't be worked on by anyone but WotC.
angellis_ater 12-14-06, 08:32 PM	Really really really can't wait for the Dreams one. A more interesting title might be in order. Will it focus solely on the Psionic aspects of dreaming and whatnot, or will you guys touch on magic as well? The part focusing on Dreams will feature the Dreamscape in general, how it relates to mortals (the subconciousness), personal Dreamcircles and all the denizens of this realm. All of this is "touched" by psionics but can be used more or less wholesale with more magic-dependent systems. But this is absolutely not the entire part of the book, which focuses more intently on adding new psionic content touched by the subconsciousness, such as new powers, variant feats and classes, two new base classes (one with a distinct connection to the Dreamscape and the Qael, the other to the subconscious mind) and alot of new stuff.
Lokiyn 12-14-06, 09:14 PM	Actually Oneiromancy Isn't necessarily a wizards of the coast property, The Magic version represented in Heros of Horror is, but Oneiromancy itself is far far older than that. If one wanted to use it in dreamscarred works one would need to clearly state (as a reminder) that Oneiromancy as presented in this book is not the Oneiromancy as presented in heros of horror and is based on the Oneirocritica (the original book on dream interpretation written by a roman) and the Archtype concepts of Carl Jung (or other individual). As For incarnum no one could not duplicate that, however a different mechanic with similar results could be used. for example Reverie Made Real Certain Psychic characters who study the Dreamscapes notice reoccuring items in thier dreams. One Researchers realized that he always had a jade bracelet one while another noticed he had a lens on that corrected his poor sight. A Reverie is a dream item that has been brought back from the dream world and stabilized through the psions will. Each Reverie requires a certain number of power points that are deducted from the psions total pool each day. Because they are in essence Dreams made manifest these items allow reality to bend a little and the psion to preform several unique tricks. Cloak of HermaThe Cloak of Herma is a bronze colored cloak that shifts about as if in a light breeze, even in still air. The wearer of this cloak is constantly brushed by a gentle zypher the main power of the cloak however is to provide a boundry between the wearer and the weather around him. This provides the wearer with immunity to the effects of natural winds. Infusions of Humour sanguineWhen bound to the Sanguine Humour the cloak becomes rimmed with blue and allows the character the ability to Control Air in a manner similar to the power, However rather than control the winds as the power the wearer may direct any magical wind based effect to an adjacent square as a swift action, area of effect wind based effects, or effects that do not allow a save cannot be redirected. melancholic The cloak darkens in color and loses its ability to bind the winds, rather the cloak acts as a boundry to light shrouding the dreamer in a small patch of shadows. This provides a 20% concealment bonus cholericThe cloaks bronze color becomes infused with a dark red color similar to a sunset, the wearer gains a resistance to fire equal to 5 phlegmaticDrawing more on the power of boundries the Wearer of the cloak of hermes that infuses it with the power of his Phlegmatic nature can ward himself against water. This allows the wearer to walk on water for a brief time. For one round the character may walk (or run) on a liquid as if it were a solid at the end of this round however the character must be on a solid surface or fall into the liquid Here we have an effect similar to Incarnum but instead made of dreams and emotions. Mechanically and Flavor wise different that that system. This is just a quick sample item off the top of my head. This item is based around the idea of Herma, the older version of hermes that represented, Fetility, luck and boundries.
angellis_ater 12-15-06, 04:28 AM	We might take a long look at reflavoring Psionics for different themes, like Oneiromancy, at a later stage; but in that case it will most probably be as a series of articles on the Dreamscarred Press website. My upcoming book does contain some new mechanics for psionics which allows for a certain similarity with the Incarnum ideas and I am sure that your excellent idea can be further expanded upon, but I do not have the time to incorporate it in the current book. On the other hand, Dreamscarred Press does hold its door open for prospective authors, so why not compile a suggestion and send it in for yourself? Or search for people to co-author it with you (I might be interested in such an endevour for example).
Lokiyn 12-15-06, 07:51 PM	Thanks. I plan on submitting something but i want to work out as many of the bugs as possible and present a working example or three of the mechanics. The idea behind Reverie items came from hyperconcious. If you notice Mournwrath equipment provides the seed for this concept. Items of Dream made manifest that provide the Mournwrath unique abilities. The problem is mainly in geting the concept in my mind, into something workable on paper
Tempest Stormwind 12-31-06, 05:53 PM	Apologies for the bump... but I'm reasonably certain people would want to hear this. In a word... GOLD! I just finished the final proofing, and with some ninja-fast work on the part of Bacris, Untapped Potential is FINISHED. It should be available within 2 weeks. For more business-related information, check our website (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com). I'd like to thank everyone for their help and continued interest in the book. It's because of people like you that we do this in the first place. And, with that, I leave you with something we've been waiting over six months for -- a sample page from the section dealing with the Society Mind (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com/previews/smind.pdf), complete with some "Awesome As One" art by Brandon Glore (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com/previews/seidmadr2_preview.jpg). All of Untapped Potential's artwork is original, and other artists include Gerald Lee (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com/previews/pathos_dragon_preview.jpg), Alex Leonard (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com/previews/Dreamscarred_preview.jpg), J. R. Dart (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com/previews/pathos_head_preview.jpg), and Kevin Miller (http://www.dreamscarredpress.com/previews/Knight_Meditant_preview.jpg).* All told, there's over thirty excellent pieces of art in the book. This is on top of lots of new mechanical content, including two new prestige classes (one for manifesters, one not), several new feats, a dramatic enhancement to chapter 6, and an expanded appendix. On behalf of all of Dreamscarred Press and all our contributors (both mechanical and creative), thank you. I certainly hope you all find it worth the wait. Enjoy the new year; I know I'll have at least one more reason to bust out the champagne. *All art remains the property of the artist and is used with permission. These previews are cropped and/or at a lower resolution compared to how they appear in the book.
Asadeseth 12-31-06, 06:28 PM	Thanks for the update Tempest Stormwind. Its nice to see some one produceing more stuff, honestly with I had the follow though to do what you guys are.
Ryuu_Tenshi 02-06-07, 10:03 AM	Weeelp, my friends just got me the .pdf for my birthday (they said they couldn't figure out how to purchase the print version... is it out yet?) I could only make a cursory glance, as I am, to say the least, busy, but that cursory glance has shown me a great many Things of Awesome. 1. Writing style. There's a bit of humour in here which you don't generally see in most WOTC products and I LIKE that. It's also easy to read and you can tell the authors REALLY REALLY like writing about this stuff. 2. Crunch. As my friend Angirus said, "It's like they took all the stupid that WOTC has been doing and fixed it." I haven't had a chance to read in depth, as I said, but my favourite thing thus far has been the Marksman. I've been wanting to play a sniper character since I first started playing 3.5 edition (my first char was a ranger/assassin) and it's now easy and oh so badass. 3. Art. I am so-so on the art thus far. Mostly because, well... I'm looking at it and going "hey, this actually looks like about my talent level and it's even close to my style! ... DAMN IT!!!" I suck at deadlines and such, but I can't help but feel that I missed the boat on a great opportunity to actually have a job. :\ It's not BAD, it's just... heh, I suppose it's disappointment in myself for not jumping on this project when you guys were still looking for artists. I do like the funny symbol thingies at the beginning of each chapter. Will write more later once I get a chance to read more.
Xaxor 02-09-07, 09:55 PM	Got my copy yesterday, and sat up an extra hour, though I should have been asleep, reading it. Well, I made it through today, and had even more time to read it. Now, I already had the .pdf, so there haven't been any surprises yet, but it's all good. It's really really good. I'm glad I bought both versions.
NobleCowtipper 04-04-07, 01:25 AM	I just purchased the print version... and realized I want to use the material right away! Any chance I can get a PDF copy, even the black and white one would be great, for now?
angellis_ater 04-04-07, 02:36 PM	This question really belongs more on the www.dreamscarredpress.com website, but as a customer I do believe that you get the PDF version AS WELL when buying the Print Version - but post the question at our website and Bacris (who is head of all things economic) will solve it for you.
Bacris 08-24-07, 09:58 AM	Wow... it's hard to believe it's been over a year since this was posted... And it's also hard to believe that it's only been a year since this was posted. What an amazing 12+ months...
jbsaff 08-24-07, 10:07 AM	Hooray for new goodies! Many thanks to those who make it possible.