Monk - Psionic Striker
Psionicist - Psionic Controller?
Soulblade - Psionic Defender or another striker maybe?
Psychic Warrior - Psionic Leader or Defender?
Other?
What are you guys thinking its going to be?
I'm probably wrong, but whatever.
Manifester defender
Empath leader
Psion controller
Monk - Psionic Striker
Psion - Psionic Controller
Class that uses the coolest elements of the Soulblade and Psychic Warrior as a Defender
And "Empath" or something as a leader.
There are good reasons for preserving the more iconic classes from earlier editions, even if it meant a little shoehorning (wizards losing some blasting power, druids losing utter omnipotence), but some of the less iconic classes don't necessarily need there names and themes preserved. It's much more important that every psionic class is cool and unique than that the names of the psionic classes get preserved. A monk can already enchant his fists and has good mobility and doesn't wear heavy armor; I'm not sure what a soulknife as a striker would bring to the table. It's much cooler, in my opinion, to make him a defender, and then poach psionic self-augmentation features from the PsyWar to fill him out.
Monk striker (soulknife is a Dynamic enchanted unarmed strike)
Manifester defender
Empath leader
Psion controller
I like Manifester and Empath as names. I dislike Monk as a name but I guess its iconic.
I mean, 'psychic warrior'?, 'soul-knife'?... laaaaame.
I am fairly certain that these classes when they make their re-appearances, are going to have little in common with their 3E predecessors mechanically... the psion most of all, since it was one of those flavourless 'full caster classes' whose sole defining feature was that it had half a book worth of powers to choose from.
I have no issues with losing Ki in favor of Psionic as a power source. Someone on these boards said now it's more the psychic, karmic, third eye mind and body power source. For argument sake, let's say this is the case. What are the other classes/roles going to be.
Monk - Psionic Striker
Psionicist - Psionic Controller?
Soulblade - Psionic Defender or another striker maybe?
Psychic Warrior - Psionic Leader or Defender?
Other?
What are you guys thinking its going to be?
Don't forget Wilders and Lurks!
I'm willing to believe they will keep, at least, Psion, Psionic Warrior, and Soulknife. They should very likely add something like...an Empath as a Leader. Psion is the obvious Controller, Psionic Warrior is an obvious Defender, and Soulknife is an obvious Striker.
Of course, they might not add one for each role. And I certainly hope they add more than four.
As to the comment about Psionics classes having lame names: Swordmage
I perfectly hate that Monks are seen as having Psionic powers. They should've just made Monk with Martial powers, or at least stuck with Ki. After all...Monks technically were about achieving complete physical perfection.
Possible other Ki fighters: Samurai, Ninja, Shugenja. They aren't lacking in existing classes to fill the Ki power source!
If you divorce the name psionics from the strictly pseudoscience view that sci-fi and modern culture has given it and instead just see it as the power source that originates from within ourselves there's many more options.
The monk fits because while they were about keeping their body healthy (not all monks are lean, mean, fighting machines) they were more about expanding and exploring their mind's potential, so they make a great psionic class.
Seers, empaths, mesmerists, astral warriors (though this is confusing since the Astral Sea in 4e is tied to divine powers), and visionaries are all examples of psionic class concepts.
Mediums while seen in sci-fi as psionics are more closely tied to Shadow, Divine, Arcane, or Primal power sources, with Shadow probably being the strongest.
Martial = utilizing the skills of combat and the body (also all weapon focused which the monk isn't)
Divine = channeling the power of the gods
Arcane = channeling the fabric of magic in the world
Primal = channeling the power of the spirits of nature
Psionic = channeling the power of one's own mind
Shadow = channeling the power of the Shadowfell and Death/Necrotic
Using some ideas/terms from 3.5 Psionics/ordinary Psychic terms.
- Monk = Psionic Striker (specialized around Psychometabolism. So using their Psionic potential to enhance/help control their physical being.)
- Empath = Psionic Leader (specialized around Telepathy. Communicating psychically with other party members, controlling/influencing enemies, etc.)
- Seer = Psionic Controller (specialized around Clairsentience. They can see distant objects, see past, present and future and go on Astral Projection. This allows them in-combat to predict enemy movements to set up psychic attacks against multiple targets instantly, using Astral Projection to to attack the multiple enemies.)
- Kineticist = Psionic Striker (specialized around Psychokinesis. The ranged heavy hitter for Psionics uses telekinesis and others to deal ranged damage).
- Psychic Warrior (can't think of a name right now) = Psionic Defender (specialized around Psychokinesis. Uses kinesis to generate wieldable Psionic energy in the form of blades, bursts of energy to shield, etc.)
Psychokenesis has lots under it, so I think it has room to be used twice. Mind blades could see potential outside specific class though. I could see them as Psionic specific "weapons". It requires a feat to learn how to form them and you can then learn how to develop new types.
Psionic specific Rituals I could also see. Especially for the Seer, to greatly extend their range to see, find information, etc.
So...
Leader - Empath (or whatever name), Powers largely based on egoists and telepaths turned outward to the party. Perhaps a smattering of powers from Seer and Kineticist...and of course many completely new powers.
Controller - Telepath (or whatever name), Powers almost solely drawn from the telepathy discipline, with a smattering of seer and kineticist...with many many new powers.
Defender - Soulknife (Probably Ardent for the name), Some powers from Soulknife, mostly just the mindblade itself, having devoured large portions of the Psychic Warrior and Ardent. Probably the most new powers of all the psionic classes.
Striker - Monk...'nuff said.
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Maybe there won't be a soulknife of any sort...maybe there will be two strikers... Frankly, I'm sick of strikers. They're too easy. Any moron can design a striker. Controllers, defenders, and leaders are challenging and interesting. Bring on more of those.
Monk - Psionic Striker
A mobile striker class focused on martial arts techniques. Is 'psionic' in the mind-over-body sense; training the mind and the body and combining them into a cohesive whole.
Psion/Mentalist/Esper - Psionic Controller
The psionic enchanter. May have two major builds; psychokinetic (focusing on force damage, pushes/pulls, and moving enemies around the battlefield) and telepathic (focusing on psychic damage, mind-controlling enemies, and imposing conditions). Psychokinetic may be more Strikerish, and Telepath more of a pure controller.
Empath - Psionic Leader
Senses the emotions of party members and enemies and subtly manipulates their minds (as opposed to the more direct approach of the psion). May also include precognitive or seer-type powers that allow them to re-roll attacks or defense saves based on insights into the future.
Soulblade - Psionic Defender
A combination of the Psychic Warrior and the Soulknife. Has the ability to generate a psychic blade using his implement(crystal?) and its weapon properties. May have a number of powers that allow superior mobility and the ability to psychically "lock-down" enemies.
I'm guessing that Psionic powers will tend to be more subtle than Arcane powers - less flashy explosions and more mental manipulation. Similar to the wizard's cantrips, the psion may gain a few at-will abilities to represent minor psychic abilities (such as a mage hand-like telekinesis power, or an ability to detect surface thoughts or communicate telepathically).
Monk - Striker
The least "psi" of the psi classes, Monks use thier power to break the rules.
See "The Matrix".
"Do you believe that my being stronger or faster has anything to do with my muscles in this place?"
Ardent - Defender
Uses his own desire to protect to fuel his powers. Marks enemies within a radius who do damage to his allies. Gains combat advantage vs. marked enemies, and his powers gain an extra effect against them (Either via a kicker built into the power, or via a pact-mechanic).
Erudite - Controller
The lucid dreamer. Of all the psi classes, the Erudite has the most control over thier powers. They should have no single target powers, and all thier powers should ignore allies.
Each build would specialise in a power type, and grant a metamagic-like power that the erudite can use X times per encounter.
For example, the Seer (Mental Control & Precognition) could deal damage on a miss, and make Psychic damage powers Brutal.
95% of Psi damage types should be Force or Psychic, with the other 5% being Lighting or Radiant (taken from the MotP Scintillating Armour as "the fundimental powers of the cosmos").
There should however be a feat/Erudite build/PP that lets you add other energy types to your powers.
The Soulknife should be a feat that lets you summon a weapon that you're proficient with, with it using your implement for enhancements.
Edit - Forgot this bit
Cantrip style effects would be coolm, but they should be built into the at-will powers; if I can throw a goblin around like a ragdoll then i should be able to use the power to pick up my keys too.
The Soulknife should be a feat that lets you summon a weapon that you're proficient with, with it using your implement for enhancements.
This would be cool. But I could also get behind it being a principle of the Shadow Striker.
Suck on that Ki'onics!
This would be cool. But I could also get behind it being a principle of the Shadow Striker.
Suck on that Ki'onics!
That is such an awesome picture :D
Monk - Already announced Psionic Striker, seems to use his Psionic powers to go beyond the limits of his body.
Empath - Psionic Controller or Leader. Could go either way, would revolve around manipualting opponents mentally and emotionally. If a controller I'm expecting Fear effects all around.
Psycic Warrior/Soulblade Meld - Best of both worlds manifesting weapons and being a defender.
DB
Possible other Ki fighters: Samurai, Ninja, Shugenja. They aren't lacking in existing classes to fill the Ki power source!
The developer opinion is not that one. A Samurai is a Fighter with a Fancy Armor and a Bastard Sword. A paragon path will do. "ninja" would step on the toes of the "true assasin" that seem to be the shadow power source striker. They would be exactly the same, but with japanese eyes. A Wu Jen is bassically an oriental mage. And so on.
The only real "ki" character was the monk, and they opted to fussion it into the psionic power instead of having 2 or 3 "monk-rehased" classes in other roles ("this is like the monk, but more defenderish") or having classes from other powersources (martial, arcane, divine) stealed and flavored into oriental.
If they were going for a 4/2/2 (psi/ki/shadow) for example then we could have a 5/3 (psi/shadow) thanks to the monk getting kicked to psi, and the ninja switching sides.
I was kind of hoping that the psion would get split into multiple classes like it should have been in 3.5.
Nomad - Striker
This would probably eat the lurk.
Kineticist - Controller
Eats wilder
Egoist - LEader or defender
Eats the Psi-war
Shaper - Striker or controller
eats the soulknife
Seer - leader or controller
Telepath - Leader
Eats warmind
Of course with the cosmological shifts I don't know how tenable this is but it would have been cool.
There are so many psionic classes in 3/3.5 that could be made, the 6 Psion disciplines, Psychic Warrior, Soulblade, Wilder, Lurk; I think that some of the Psion disciplines would be folded into other classes, likely to make a total of 5 or 6 Psionic classes in the end. I mean - Some of the Seer, Egotist and Telepath could be folded together to become the Psionic leader class; Some of the Egotist, Nomad and Kineticist could be folded into each other to make another Psionic striker(Kineticist was the mobility psion after all); Shaper could be made into the controller with half the telepath abilities, Half the Soulknife class abilities and Psychic Warrior could be folded into each other for a psionic defender; Wilder and Lurk could make another Striker, or be folded into the group with the kineticist and Nomad above. Or maybe the Lurk will become a class more toward the Shadow power source. I definitely see some name changes for the Psionic classes. Maybe even an entirely new class for psionic.
Could even see the return of some of the prestige class names as paragon classes, Pyrokineticist for example - I see this as a striker paragon path might be with monk or another psionic striker class. Psionic Fist could see a return, Leaning for this one to be monk paragon myself.
My
I do think that the aura abilities of the Divine Mind will be back in some form because nothing says leader more than those, but the class that gets it certainly isn't going to have the name Divine Mind.
LuciferNietzsche there are actually 6 arcane classes, Artificer(Arcane Leader), Bard(Arcane Leader#2), Sorcerer(Arcane Striker), Swordmage(Arcane Defender), Warlock(Arcane Striker#2), Wizard(Arcane Controller). I already know that Artificer will be one of two possible classes printed in full in Eberron Players Guide. The other quite possibly a Psionic class or even a shadow class.
The Artificer is the only new class that's going to be in the EPG.
Hey Mcnancy, can you send a link to that Q&A. I would be interested in reading that but I am also lazy. :-)
DB
all the links to that stuff are in the Unofficial Compilation of all Confirmed Future Release Infothread