tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post1720534679422434233..comments2024-03-27T21:32:28.527-05:00Comments on The Other Side blog: Class Struggles: PsionicsTimothy S. Brannanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923526503305233715noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-56573353970110954292015-11-05T06:33:17.405-06:002015-11-05T06:33:17.405-06:00I think my favorite implementation of psychic powe...I think my favorite implementation of psychic powers with a D&D-like is Paizo's psychic magic. I like the occult theme they associated with them and each class is oozing with flavor, especially the medium and the occultist. <br /><br />My 2nd choice would probably be the 4e version. I think having Psionic be just another power source was an excellent decision. It kept things simple, fit the structure they already created with the game's rules, and made it easier for GMs to include because they don't have to learn an entirely new set of mechanics to do so.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10319177216467599283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-12292347190432535802015-11-05T05:44:44.474-06:002015-11-05T05:44:44.474-06:00I still remember a White Dwarf article dedicated t...I still remember a White Dwarf article dedicated to Psionics :)<br /><br />the "basic psionics handbook" ia a really nice product (bought yesterday after reading your article) and indeed has a 1st/basic edition feel. The 2 new classes are spot on and you feel at home (if you used 1st ed psionics rules). At the time I had a major psi and it was lot of fun and very useful for our party of 3 (specially energy control and telekinesis :))<br /><br />The Monk in the "BPH" is spot on while different, really a charming addition to my osr library :) (indeed I went to my print-shop and they are printing it :-) )Fabio Milito Pagliarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13043436735116048822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-58553988842322528482015-11-04T18:31:44.902-06:002015-11-04T18:31:44.902-06:00We played with psionics in our 1E days, any my mai...We played with psionics in our 1E days, any my main character was a major psionic user. It gave him an edge that made him one of the most powerful characters in the campaign (PC or NPC). He was able to nearly solo the module Q1, but was taken down by Lloth in the final encounter after he'd failed to heal himself with cell adjustment (damn ice storm spell)...he ended up limbless and senseless in an Abyssmal prison being tortured on a Prometheus-style scale. Good times.<br /><br />However, we also made up additional psionic abilities. My buddy played a Drow assassin that was able to masquerade as a magic-user using his psionics. He had pyrokinetic powers that were completely house-ruled. Other characters that had psionics tended to be magic-users (the high intelligence, you know?), so it just gave them some additional "spell-like" power. For us, it was pretty simple. We rarely engaged in actual psionic combat, just made use of the various disciplines.<br /><br />I've always been a fan of psionics, but often been frustrated by their implementation. I also picked up the Basic Psionics Handbook, but didn't enjoy find much to like (the chakra thing was kind of neat). I hate psionics as a class-based ability, as it ends up feeling like "just another type of spell-user" rather than something interesting and strange. But I'm biased based on my own background.<br /><br />JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-34969611943974298352015-11-04T18:21:09.811-06:002015-11-04T18:21:09.811-06:00In that game, the psionic classes ended up serving...In that game, the psionic classes ended up serving a role comparable to prestige classes in other games--you had to work towards discovering and earning them, they required an initiation of sorts, and possessing them marked you as a powerful hero.Tim Emrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03140732247799671326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-89865250213977609412015-11-04T18:15:18.720-06:002015-11-04T18:15:18.720-06:00I've read the rules for 1e & 2e, but aside...I've read the rules for 1e & 2e, but aside from one session of an aborted Dark Sun campaign, I never played with psionics until 3e. A friend of mine ran a campaign in a homebrew world where psionics was the secret weapon of the human/demihuman resistance against the empire's ogre magi overlords. None of the PCs started with psionic classes, but once we encountered and got recruited into the resistance, we had access to teachers, so most of us started multiclassing around 5th-6th level. (The campaign concluded around 11th level.)Tim Emrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03140732247799671326noreply@blogger.com