Adding Psionics [Archive] - Wizards Community

Adding Psionics [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sereno
07-07-06, 09:29 AM OK ... I'm not trying to start another "I hate Psionics" vs. "I love Psionics" thread.

First, some background:

I'll admit this ... I've never liked psionics. They've always felt "tacked on" and too "sci-fi" for my vision of a DnD world.

However, I'm DMing Eberron, now, and the world is well designed with psionics in mind. There's a reason for it to exist, a source that makes sense, and two races (PC and non-PC) for which psionics is a good fit.

In addition, I've already got one psionic PC; a soul-knife, which is a pretty easy class to accept even in a largely non-psionic campaign.

I've read all of the "it's broken" vs. "not, it's not" threads, and have looked into the SRD. Based on what I've read, I'm siding with the "it's not broken" guys.

I've got the PCGen dataset for the XPH and the SRD ... I don't plan on buying the XPH because I'm not going to be adding THAT much psionics.

And now, to my actual question(s):

Does anyone have any good tips for getting familiar with the psionics rules so I can bring the occasional psionic NPC into my game?

What's the best way to run psionics ... should magic and psionics interact or should they be different? I believe there are three levels of "transparency"; which do you think is best?
Witch
07-07-06, 09:37 AM What's the best way to run psionics ... should magic and psionics interact or should they be different? I believe there are three levels of "transparency"; which do you think is best?
I suggest Full Transparency. Everything interacts. That's the most balanced one. The others will cause you lots of problems.
Tormsskull
07-07-06, 09:46 AM Do any of your players own the XPH? I'd have a hard time trying psionics without that at my side. I'd say create psionics to fit how you and the players want them to, and then just make sure they are consistent.

Psinoics open a lot of more doors for adventures that you can use, so be sure to add content in for the psionics player.

Edit: Ask to borrow the XPH from the guy who owns it. Giving it a good read-through will probably help.
Sereno
07-07-06, 09:57 AM I suggest Full Transparency. Everything interacts. That's the most balanced one. The others will cause you lots of problems.

Thanks. That's the one I've been leaning towards, for the relative simplicity.

Do any of your players own the XPH? I'd have a hard time trying psionics without that at my side. I'd say create psionics to fit how you and the players want them to, and then just make sure they are consistent.

Yes, the soulknife's player owns the XPH and brings it to every game, so it will be available at the table in case I need to look up a rule. I just don't plan to buy my own because I don't want to run a psionics campaign, just add some psionic encounters on occasion.
DisposableHero_
07-07-06, 10:09 AM The New DMs and Players Guide to Psionics (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=486266) on the psionics board is a good resource for getting to know the ins and outs of the system in a very basic fashion. If you've only got the one soulknife for psionic characters in your game then there really isn't that much you need to know as its not a manifester. The sections on psionic focus and the psionic subtype are probably all you need to consider for that character.

One thing you may find (I certainly have) its that its a lot easier to build a psion for a caster type encounter than it is to build a prepared caster, or even a sorcerer, as there is less bookkeeping involved with psionics than with spell slots and that shows up most prevalently when making NPCs.

I also highly recommend using the full standard transparency rules, especially the frist time, though it doesn't matter a lot for the soulknife. Beyond that my advice is good luck and have fun, its a good system and doesn't take long at all the get used to.
(Psi)SeveredHead
07-07-06, 10:31 AM Does anyone have any good tips for getting familiar with the psionics rules so I can bring the occasional psionic NPC into my game?

Play one. Do not be afraid to ban powers that make you or any of your players uncomfortable.

What's the best way to run psionics ... should magic and psionics interact or should they be different? I believe there are three levels of "transparency"; which do you think is best?

They should interact fully. While it may be less flavorful this way, it causes many fewer headaches, and the DM should be having fun when running the game.
Cifer
07-07-06, 10:39 AM I'd also advise transparency. If you have only either a caster or a manifester in the group, the lack of interaction between magic and psionics might lead to some unbalanced battles: Say you've got a wizard in your group. When you come up against a psion, the psion has no defences against your mage (well, except for magic items) while the mage can't defend your group against the psionics. If you have a manifester as well as a caster in your group you might think about adding nontransparency for flavour and difference.
LCD2YOU
07-07-06, 11:41 AM I suggest having ecounters with psionic enemies first.

That way you can get a taste of what psionics is all about. Also, when you do introduce psionic bad guys, make them 3 or 4 ECLs lower than your players. In that way, you'll see what psionics can do. If you, playing the psionic bad guys, nearly kill or do far more damage to your players then that tells you something as well. If you believe that the psionic party who are 4 ECLs below the PCs were way "too powerful" that will give you a good idea on what powers are "broken".

It's what I've been doing and it's been working, so far but nobody seems intersted in playing a psionic character.
cvazi
07-07-06, 01:40 PM Disposable Hero summed everything quite nicely. An additional resource you might want to take a look at is The 3.5 problematic powers forum (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=657631) by Surgo.

One more vote for full transparency. :D
(Psi)SeveredHead
07-07-06, 02:03 PM I wouldn't trust that resource too much. The psionics boards has something of a "fortress mentality" about psionic balance issues.

Another thing, make sure you use (or threaten) four encounters per day. Two powerful encounters per day will not balance the use of psionics.
Sereno
07-08-06, 05:30 PM Thanks for all the tips!

No one else in my campaign wants a psionic character, I've just got the soulknife ... so I'm going to be running them all.

I like the advice to start a couple of ELs low to make sure I'm not setting them up for an accidental TPK due to my inexperience.

It also makes sense campaign-wise ... in Eberron, the bad guys would never send their "big guns" until they knew they were needed. Cagey bad guys don't reveal their best weapons and assets unless they really need to....

I also downloaded and started reading Disposable Hero's thread ... lots of good info there!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sereno 07-07-06, 09:29 AM	OK ... I'm not trying to start another "I hate Psionics" vs. "I love Psionics" thread. First, some background: I'll admit this ... I've never liked psionics. They've always felt "tacked on" and too "sci-fi" for my vision of a DnD world. However, I'm DMing Eberron, now, and the world is well designed with psionics in mind. There's a reason for it to exist, a source that makes sense, and two races (PC and non-PC) for which psionics is a good fit. In addition, I've already got one psionic PC; a soul-knife, which is a pretty easy class to accept even in a largely non-psionic campaign. I've read all of the "it's broken" vs. "not, it's not" threads, and have looked into the SRD. Based on what I've read, I'm siding with the "it's not broken" guys. I've got the PCGen dataset for the XPH and the SRD ... I don't plan on buying the XPH because I'm not going to be adding THAT much psionics. And now, to my actual question(s): Does anyone have any good tips for getting familiar with the psionics rules so I can bring the occasional psionic NPC into my game? What's the best way to run psionics ... should magic and psionics interact or should they be different? I believe there are three levels of "transparency"; which do you think is best?
Witch 07-07-06, 09:37 AM	What's the best way to run psionics ... should magic and psionics interact or should they be different? I believe there are three levels of "transparency"; which do you think is best? I suggest Full Transparency. Everything interacts. That's the most balanced one. The others will cause you lots of problems.
Tormsskull 07-07-06, 09:46 AM	Do any of your players own the XPH? I'd have a hard time trying psionics without that at my side. I'd say create psionics to fit how you and the players want them to, and then just make sure they are consistent. Psinoics open a lot of more doors for adventures that you can use, so be sure to add content in for the psionics player. Edit: Ask to borrow the XPH from the guy who owns it. Giving it a good read-through will probably help.
Sereno 07-07-06, 09:57 AM	I suggest Full Transparency. Everything interacts. That's the most balanced one. The others will cause you lots of problems. Thanks. That's the one I've been leaning towards, for the relative simplicity. Do any of your players own the XPH? I'd have a hard time trying psionics without that at my side. I'd say create psionics to fit how you and the players want them to, and then just make sure they are consistent. Yes, the soulknife's player owns the XPH and brings it to every game, so it will be available at the table in case I need to look up a rule. I just don't plan to buy my own because I don't want to run a psionics campaign, just add some psionic encounters on occasion.
DisposableHero_ 07-07-06, 10:09 AM	The New DMs and Players Guide to Psionics (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=486266) on the psionics board is a good resource for getting to know the ins and outs of the system in a very basic fashion. If you've only got the one soulknife for psionic characters in your game then there really isn't that much you need to know as its not a manifester. The sections on psionic focus and the psionic subtype are probably all you need to consider for that character. One thing you may find (I certainly have) its that its a lot easier to build a psion for a caster type encounter than it is to build a prepared caster, or even a sorcerer, as there is less bookkeeping involved with psionics than with spell slots and that shows up most prevalently when making NPCs. I also highly recommend using the full standard transparency rules, especially the frist time, though it doesn't matter a lot for the soulknife. Beyond that my advice is good luck and have fun, its a good system and doesn't take long at all the get used to.
(Psi)SeveredHead 07-07-06, 10:31 AM	Does anyone have any good tips for getting familiar with the psionics rules so I can bring the occasional psionic NPC into my game? Play one. Do not be afraid to ban powers that make you or any of your players uncomfortable. What's the best way to run psionics ... should magic and psionics interact or should they be different? I believe there are three levels of "transparency"; which do you think is best? They should interact fully. While it may be less flavorful this way, it causes many fewer headaches, and the DM should be having fun when running the game.
Cifer 07-07-06, 10:39 AM	I'd also advise transparency. If you have only either a caster or a manifester in the group, the lack of interaction between magic and psionics might lead to some unbalanced battles: Say you've got a wizard in your group. When you come up against a psion, the psion has no defences against your mage (well, except for magic items) while the mage can't defend your group against the psionics. If you have a manifester as well as a caster in your group you might think about adding nontransparency for flavour and difference.
LCD2YOU 07-07-06, 11:41 AM	I suggest having ecounters with psionic enemies first. That way you can get a taste of what psionics is all about. Also, when you do introduce psionic bad guys, make them 3 or 4 ECLs lower than your players. In that way, you'll see what psionics can do. If you, playing the psionic bad guys, nearly kill or do far more damage to your players then that tells you something as well. If you believe that the psionic party who are 4 ECLs below the PCs were way "too powerful" that will give you a good idea on what powers are "broken". It's what I've been doing and it's been working, so far but nobody seems intersted in playing a psionic character.
cvazi 07-07-06, 01:40 PM	Disposable Hero summed everything quite nicely. An additional resource you might want to take a look at is The 3.5 problematic powers forum (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=657631) by Surgo. One more vote for full transparency. :D
(Psi)SeveredHead 07-07-06, 02:03 PM	I wouldn't trust that resource too much. The psionics boards has something of a "fortress mentality" about psionic balance issues. Another thing, make sure you use (or threaten) four encounters per day. Two powerful encounters per day will not balance the use of psionics.
Sereno 07-08-06, 05:30 PM	Thanks for all the tips! No one else in my campaign wants a psionic character, I've just got the soulknife ... so I'm going to be running them all. I like the advice to start a couple of ELs low to make sure I'm not setting them up for an accidental TPK due to my inexperience. It also makes sense campaign-wise ... in Eberron, the bad guys would never send their "big guns" until they knew they were needed. Cagey bad guys don't reveal their best weapons and assets unless they really need to.... I also downloaded and started reading Disposable Hero's thread ... lots of good info there!