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#1 shintashi Aug 22, 2015 15:03:57

Writing up most classes is easy. You arrange mechanics that fit the balance of other classes, try to have some diverse stuff, and then play test it until it works. You run them through a couple of dungeons, get feedback, and fix anything that is broken.     But not all classes are easy. Some, like Wizards and other dedicated spell casters have an open ended way of working with the campaign setting. They make names for themselves like other classes, but they also produce things like Magic Items that change the dynamic of the game. Even after a wizard dies, whatever permanent magic items they made, such as a warrior's armor or a thief's blade go on for centuries, changing hands.   Powerful, creative wizards like Rary, Bigby, and Mordenkainen go on to produce spells used by other spell casters not only on their home worlds, but across the planes. In real life, countless thousands, if not millions of roleplayers know these names, and have had characters or their friends cast these spells.   Traditionally, there were mechanics for setting up these two avenues of Campaign modification. After building a tower or other structure, a wizard would fill it with a great number of tomes of ancient and lost knowledge the library and building would then be supported with the addition of laboratories and forges exotic and expensive components were gathered as needed exceedingly high levels of craftsmanship where necessary were employed, often creating lasting friendships enormous amounts of time with trial and error would pass, typically measured in weeks, months, or even years some kind of chance of failure, such as one or more skill checks, percentile checks, or attribute checks, modified by skills and levels and specialties would come into place, and these would be weighed against the final desired product, such as a new spell or magic item   if everything went well, the Wizard, Cleric, or whatever would succeed in producing the new spell or item. Sometimes they would be researching something that already existed, sometimes they would be merely improving something they already had, and quite often they would be creating something entirely new.     Psionics and Mystics need something like this it should be part of their core build. But instead of enchanted wizard towers and laboratories, Psionicists go out to remote regions and hidden quiet places, and meditate. Instead of writing down new spells, they revise their own powers, upgrading or cleaning them up, or devise entirely new powers. Psionicists also train their minds and bodies, unlocking their potential in not just quick fix temporary ways, but also long lasting ways. In 5e, some classes have permanent changes to their attributes, physical appearance, or abilities.   I think with a Mystic/Psychic, this is also true, but it is less standardized, and more custom, and takes a little more time. Like maybe leveling instead of giving you X ability, opens up a space for you to fill with something from a list, or something entirely new.   I don't want to present a bunch of rules the Game designers are going to ignore, so instead, I just want to put the notion out there, that perhaps Psionicists don't get as many guaranteed class benefits, but they have this sort of unspoken versatility that comes with meditation. I would like the 5e designers and the rest of you readers to check out the Will and the Way for inspiration (2e Dark Sun supplement).     Crystal themed Items Crystals have been a psychic theme for longer than any of us has been alive. I think Gemstones and Crystals are the area where Psychics can really shine. Their items don't have to be direct analogous to Magic items, but the Game balance can be similar. In fiction, crystals are basically "potential minds" that are solid inanimate objects. They grow, they 'live' and they can be conscious and aware - they can hear through resonance, and see whatever light pass through or reflects off their surface, but most don't move. Crystal items also have the potential to Grow/progress, possibly with the wielder. Some of these things can be super structures, like bases, or flying craft. The 1978 Superman Fortress of Solitude comes to mind. Crystal items tend to be empathic, or sentient, and are usually either receptacles or passive benefits, like wards vs. nightmares, illness, or bad luck. Crystal items often interact in real time with Psychics, and some can actually be psychic entities, almost like Familiars. Some of these themes were popular in 3e. A Few of them were standard in 2e.   Living Tools In addition to crystal items, Psychics are often known to use Organic, Living 'technology'. Parasites, Simbiots, or just ordinary living objects that we would normally think of as monsters, but being used as weapons, armor, tools, and so on. So this is the second area common with crafting items - Psychics could "grow" them. They could have caves like the Drow do, where they harvest things. They could have labs analogous to alchemist labs and wizard labs, where they grow and splice together new living things. Where they work with aberrations or even pretty things that might look like Fey. They might have Beautiful Sky ships that look like giant swooping Hawks or butterflies, or bio-tech, psyberbiology, or whatever you want to call it, that is similar to Spelljammers. Sentient trees, for example, are also a common telepathic psychic theme. Even giant super trees, and Tree cities.   Growing Items as a Community In the DMG, there's time tables for making magic items. I notice that some of the tables are measured in months, but the legendary table is closer to 50 years. The idea behind biotech and crystals, is the longer you wait for it grow, the bigger it gets, so there could be a size correlation with time, matching up nicely. A Gargantuan Flying living ship might fit the "legendary" box. Perhaps instead of charging gold pieces all the time (which does make sense with Gems), in some cases, like Bio ships or living trees, etc., you could have a Cumulative Psi points total? Like if it required 50,000 gold pieces, make it "total of 50,000 psi points". If it takes 500,000 gold, that's 500,000 total psi points, and so on. Entire categories of items could be grown using a Psi point economy that people make daily or weekly payments on. Large groups could gather together and forward their empathic devotion or "prayers" to add to the Psi point total. Even untrained Psychics could have a latent potential psi, like a number of points equal to their Wisdom modifier, that could be used in this way, as a community effect.   Cool. Feedback welcome.