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Milskidasith
2009-09-13, 11:33 AM
Ok, I'm making a Psionic character for a PbP game (on these forums). 32 point buy. I like the idea of psionics, and it looks really cool, but I have no experience building them. If you guys would be so kind as to help me out, that would be lovely. I know the basics (powers use PPs, you can augment them up to your manifester level, etc.)

Notes:

No LA more than +1
32 Point Buy.
Starting at level 2, with 1,500 GP.
I have access to nothing besides the SRD and Crystalkeep.

vampire2948
2009-09-13, 11:42 AM
Psionics are cool.

Is your game using Psionics - Magic transparency?
Also - What kind of psion do you want to be? Blasty? Summony? Buffy? Stabby?

Ichneumon
2009-09-13, 11:45 AM
First of all, you need to decide on your character's race.

I'd say, choose a race based on what you view as fun, instead of what would be better mechanically.

Choosing powers you should keep in mind that you need to be versatile, yet always be able to do "something", given that you will most likely not be very good at swinging a sword, you need a basic spell/power you can cast to cause basic damage, if there is nothing more interesting you can do. Crystal Shard or Dissipating Touch or even Mind Thrust are basic powers that cause damage you chould consider, but you should realise that the value of taking more than 1 or 2 of these powers might be a waste of "powers known" as they are mostly doing the same.

Utility powers are always usefull and depending on the campaign powers like Sustenance, Body Equilibrium or Tongues can come in handy and make being a Psion special and different from being just a regular damage dealer.

Utility powers however also have a dark side as they can be a waste if they are not used at all. You don't have to use utility powers often or even during every session, but if they aren't used at all during the game you might as well have chosen a different ability. Powers like that might be Astral Traveler, which are cool in theory, but get used very little in most regular campaigns.

Ichneumon
2009-09-13, 11:51 AM
Also, when choosing a discipline you should not only look at "what is cool", but also at what is handy. I always loved the concept of the Nomad or Shaper, but in most campaigns adventuring parties need damage dealers or "leaders" that grant buffs so the Noman, Shaper or even Telepath disciplines might, depending on the campaign and the party's wishes, not be the best choices. If you want a certain concept, you could always choose to take one power that fits the Nomad/shaper/telepath theme and use it more often.

You know what, let's make a basic power list.

As a level 2 Psion you have access to 5 spells.

I'd take Crystal Shard or Energy Ray as your first power, or if you prefer melee attacks, take Dissipating Touch.

Secondly you could take Control Object or Mindlink (depending on which discipline you take) as both are classic "psionic" powers, telepathy or telekineses so they might make it easier for you to play a "psionic" character.

Synesthete is a classical utility power that is fun to use and could, theoretically have many creatire uses.

Empathy is useful too, it also functions as a classical "psionic" power, being very flavorfull.

Create sound could be useful or if you want a more combat related power go for any of the different types of Precognition.

Milskidasith
2009-09-13, 03:24 PM
Ok, I'm thinking of being a telepath, but I still don't know what to do with my ability scores besides maxing out int. Probably Int, Con, Dex, and the rest dumped, right? I was considering playing a human (bonus feats, woo!) but I also have no clue what feats to take.

My powers would probably be Mindlink, Empathy, Synesthate, Energy Ray, and either Vigor or one of the offensive Presciences.

Yora
2009-09-13, 04:32 PM
As a telepath, you don't need any strength, as you probably don't want to engage in any physical activity.

But as a telepath, you very likely could become the chief talker in the group because, well you can read minds! :smallbiggrin:
So I would make Charisma my second highest ability, unless there's a bard or sorcerer in the group, who will do all the talking anyway.

Con is always good, but as said, you probably won't get too much into close combat anyway, probably will get some powers that get you rid of a goblin or troll that got through the line of melee characters, and you have Vigor, which can give you a huge boost in temporary hit points for some time. So I would not go out of my way to get Con very high.

I think Wisodom and Dexterity are not of primary concern, but I would put decent scores into them (like 12 or so), as they can both come in handy.

Milskidasith
2009-09-13, 07:37 PM
Well, my backstory doesn't really have him as a personable type; rather than talk to people, he'd just read their minds to learn what he needs to. So I'm not going with "party face."

woodenbandman
2009-09-13, 10:52 PM
Some powers that you should know:

Psionic Grease: as good as grease always was. Better, actually, since it's 1 power point and that's less than 1 first level spell slot at high levels.

Vigor: Press X to not die.

Demoralize: Pretty good for a low level power. It's an AoE effect that lasts a long time, and it scales well (as far as mind-effecting powers go). Combines great with someone with Intimidate and such.

Call To Mind: Technically, you can just cast this until you succeed. If you have 1 rank in all knowledges, you never need fail. Not so good in combat.

Energy Ray: every low-level psion should probably have a damage power, and one with no save is as good as any. An alternative is Mind Thrust, which has higher damage die but allows a save.

Milskidasith
2009-09-14, 02:41 AM
Vigor and Energy Ray are on my list. Demoralize looks good, though I really don't know what to get rid of to get it. Maybe Empathy?

Thrawn183
2009-09-14, 07:27 AM
You need a way to target all 3 saves, and one way to get past all three (like a spell that requires a touch attack but doesn't allow a save).

You need some general utility. You are the psionic equivalent of a primary arcane caster after all.

Oh, and you can't spend more power points on a power than your manifester level outside of special cases like overchannel. Just throwing that out there in case you didn't know.

kamikasei
2009-09-14, 07:37 AM
Feats: Psicrystal Affinity at first level, Psicrystal Containment and Expanded Knowledge: Astral Construct at third/fifth.

Mind thrust, mindlink, energy ray, vigor and crystal shard form a decent list of powers, though depending on the rest of your party you may want to trade some offense for utility.

Milskidasith
2009-09-14, 11:30 AM
I don't think I need Crystal Shard *and* energy ray.

kamikasei
2009-09-14, 11:46 AM
You're right, I misremembered energy ray as granting a reflex save. Replace one with a precognition or inertial armor, then, though as a psion you could get mithral armor and shields rather than using powers for those bonuses.

Milskidasith
2009-09-14, 11:52 AM
Actually, Force Screen seems useful, because I'm not actually proficient with shields... and it happens to be a lot lower PP cost for the benefit than Defensive Precognition (though no saving throw or touch attack benefits.)

So with that, I could eventually pick up a Mithral Chain Shirt and have 19 AC.

Still, I don't want to get rid of stuff like Synesthate or Empathy (Empathy is mostly for flavor, though.)

Final Power List: Mindlink, Energy Ray, Force Screen, Vigor, and either Mind Thrust or Synesthate. I think I could pick up Synesthate later, although I already have semi reliable damage with Energy Ray.

kamikasei
2009-09-14, 11:57 AM
Actually, Force Screen seems useful, because I'm not actually proficient with shields...

You're not proficient with armor, either. The trick is that a mithral heavy shield, or masterwork buckler, have no ACP, and thus nonproficiency doesn't penalize you in any way.

Milskidasith
2009-09-14, 12:01 PM
True, but I can't exactly afford those at this level. Then again, the DM is letting me retrain one power per level, so once I can get a mithral shield, I'll just change Force Screen for Defensive Precognition.

EDIT: Well, I can afford the buckler if I drop some of the alchemical items I bought.

truemane
2009-09-14, 12:02 PM
Also, the one thing you want to keep in mind is that you don't have to pick your feats with the long term in mind. Because, at Level 7 you get access to the most important power in a Psion's arsenal: Psychic Reformation. For the paltry price of 50 XP per desired level you can rechoose all your Skill Points, all your Feats and all your Powers.

So, for example, while Psionic Body is a wonderfully useful power at low levels, its utility fades once you get into the mid-levels. Same with Skill Focus: Concentration (or the Single-Minded psicrystal personality): very useful at low levels, less useful as time goes on.

But that's okay, I'd recommend both of those feats, and then when you hit level 7 you can just rechoose them and switch them out for different ones.

Also, reconsider not being the Face of the Group. A Telepath gets Diplomacy as a Class Skill and that skill gets a LOT of mileage out of synergy. So while I'm not suggesting you revamp your entire concept, remember that the mechanics support you being the guy doing the talking, even if it's fluffed out as 'creepy manipulative knowledge of human nature' talking as opposed to the more common 'everyone loves me cuz I smile so good' kind.

Expanded Knowledge cannot be taken until 3rd level. Once you hit 3rd, I would highly recommend you grab up Astal Construct. That Power is useful from 3rd level ALL the way up to 15th or so due to the way it scales.

Also, Psionic Charm. No one's mentioned this yet. You're a Telepath, man! You should be controlling minds right from the start.

Milskidasith
2009-09-14, 12:12 PM
Yeah, I'm thinking I'll be the party face, but still, actually having charisma doesn't seem right for this guy; he's a really studious type who's pretty much focused on how the mind works and improving his psionic power. So I see him as having high diplomacy and such, just from knowing how people think, but not very good charisma.

EDIT: Of course, I could drop his Int lower from 18 to 16 to up other scores, but that also doesn't fit the character. (Current stats: 8 12 14 18 14 8).

Eldariel
2009-09-14, 01:25 PM
Also, when choosing a discipline you should not only look at "what is cool", but also at what is handy. I always loved the concept of the Nomad or Shaper, but in most campaigns adventuring parties need damage dealers or "leaders" that grant buffs so the Noman, Shaper or even Telepath disciplines might, depending on the campaign and the party's wishes, not be the best choices.

I'd just like to point out that thanks to Astral Construct, Shapers make excellent problem solvers, and they can deal damage too. Nomads less so, but they have some higher level options available to them. But yeah, I wouldn't worry about damage - that's the others' job.

lord_khaine
2009-09-14, 02:34 PM
i would also point out a usefull lv 1 power, that i overlooked myself until recently, entangling ectoplasm, that on a ranget touch attack gives a -2 to hit, a -4 dex and ½ movement speed.

Ichneumon
2009-09-14, 02:41 PM
I'd just like to point out that thanks to Astral Construct, Shapers make excellent problem solvers, and they can deal damage too. Nomads less so, but they have some higher level options available to them. But yeah, I wouldn't worry about damage - that's the others' job.

The only real thing I miss for a shaper, just for fluff reasons, is some kind of astral construct version of the Unseen Servant spell, allowing you to keep your constructs longer yet disabling their combat usefullness.

Yora
2009-09-14, 03:27 PM
My personal problem with Shapers is, that they are not really that "psychic". Creating mostly solid things from thin air doesn't really feel like a mind power.