[3.P] Fun New Psionic Powers: Energy Tentacles, Interposing Action, Dimensional Jaunt

[Endarire]

How balanced are these?

Version Log
1.1: March 20, 2011

Dimensional Jaunt
-Clarified that this power needs line of effect but not line of sight.
-Removed the second paragraph about taking damage by jaunting too far.
-Clarified that you can only take your psicrystals and familiars, just anyone's.


Energy Tentacles
-Lowered damage to 3d6. Applied the standard damage mods (Cold/Fire: +1 damage/die, Elec: +2 'to hit,' +3 vs. PR, Sonic: -1 damage/die)
-Clarified that the tentacles are immune to damage and can't be moved.


Interposing Action
-Clarified the wording on 'You can be affected by this power once per round.'

1.0: March 18, 2011
Initial release.

Dimensional Jaunt
Psychoportation [Teleportation]
Level: Nomad1
Display: Visual
Manifesting Time: 1 swift action
Range: 10'
Target: You
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Power Resistance: No
Power Points: 1

Dimensional jaunt lets you instantly teleport anywhere within 10’. Unlike most Teleportation abilities, you need line of effect but not line of sight to your destination. Your destination must be on the same plane as your current space. You bring along any items, willing familiars, and willing psicrystals on your person, but this power fails if you try to use it when carrying more than a heavy load. An unwilling familiar or psicrystal falls to the ground in its space when you jaunt away.

Since manifesting this power is a swift action, you don’t provoke attacks of opportunity from its manifestation.

Augment
You may augment dimensional jaunt in one or more of these ways.

1: For every 1 more PP you spend, the range increases by 5’.
2: If you spend an extra 3 PP, you no longer need line of effect to your destination.

JUSTIFICATION: It's giving Nomads spiffy specialty powers.

Energy Tentacles
Psychokinesis [See Text]
Level: Psion/Wilder5
Display: Visual
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100’ + 10’/level)
Area: 20' radius spread; see text
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: None
Power Resistance: Yes; see text
Power Points: 9

You create a solid, writhing mass of invincible, immobile, 10’ long tentacles that can be any single opaque visible color you can imagine. They spring forth from ceilings, walls, floors, dirt, vegetation, and even underwater. The tentacles must be made on a surface large enough to support their area. If the surface is too small, the spread of the tentacles is reduced to fit the area.

Normally, the tentacles attempt to grapple and eventually pin any creature that comes within the power’s area, or within 10’ of any tentacle. The tentacles have a grapple modifier of your manifester level +8. Specifically, the tentacles have a STR score of 18 (a +4 modifier), a DEX score of 10 (a +0 modifier), no CON score, no INT score, no WIS score, and no CHA score. They have 9 AC, a BAB equal to your manifester level, and a melee accuracy of +3. In terms of grapple checks, treat the tentacles as a Large creature, though the mass of tentacles is neither creature nor object.

These tentacles are immune to damage of all kinds and can't be moved during the power's duration.

A victim grappled by energy tentacles only takes damage if the tentacles overcome power resistance. A victim whose power resistance is too high to be damaged by energy tentacles takes no damage from the grappling, but remains grappled or pinned.

As a free action, usable even when it isn’t your turn, you can mentally direct these tentacles to try to grapple only certain creatures or objects, not to try grabbing something, or to release a held target.

Upon manifesting this power, you choose cold, electricity, fire, or sonic. The effects are described below.

Cold
Each round a target is grappled by cold tentacles, it takes 3d6 cold damage, +1 cold damage per die.

Electricity
Electric tentacles get +2 on all grapple checks and checks to overcome power resistance. Each round a target is grappled by electric tentacles, it takes 3d6 electricity damage.

Fire
Each round a target is grappled by fiery tentacles, it takes 3d6 fire damage, +1 fire damage per die.

Sonic
Each round a target is grappled by resonating tentacles, it takes 3d6 sonic damage, -1 sonic damage per die (minimum 1 total damage), and ignores all victims’ hardness.

This power’s subtype is the same as the type of energy you manifest.

Augment
For every 2 more PP you spend, the damage to grappled victims increases by 1d6.

JUSTIFICATION: I noticed no psionic analog of Evard's black tentacles (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/blackTentacles.htm) and felt compelled to fill in the gaps.

Interposing Action
Psychoportation
Level: Nomad8
Display: Visual
Manifesting Time: 1 immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Power Resistance: No
Power Points: 15

If you manifest interposing action on your turn, you get another turn this round immediately after your current turn. Otherwise, you get an extra turn at the moment you manifest this power, but you’ve already spent this interrupting turn’s swift action manifesting interposing action. Either way, you move so quickly that you interrupt the normal flow of time, and your initiative count does not change.

Extrapersonal effects that happen on your turn (such as an astral construct’s actions, the need to save against a continual spell, or your psicrystal’s or familiar’s actions) don’t happen on this interposed turn.

Since manifesting this power is an immediate action, you don’t provoke attacks of opportunity from its manifestation.

You can’t manifest this power when flat-footed. You may only be affected by interposing action once per round.

JUSTIFICATION: Nomads get gimped as a specialty. Their best specialty power is normally teleport. Now, I added incentive.

This is a celerity analog meant to replace anticipatory strike (Complete Psionic 79).

[cooperflood]

Energy Tentacles: would be too good except for the fact that they have 0 BAB, which makes them suck. They won't be able to hit anything, nor will they be able to grapple successfully. Why don't you just copy and paste Black Tentacles but make them deal 3d6 energy damage instead of bludgeoning (adding the standard +1 per die, +2 to Grapple/Attack, and -1 per die stuff)? No matter how you do it they should only deal damage with a successful grapple check.

Interposing Action: I have banned celerity in my games, but this might work. However I'm frankly not read up enough on celerity abuses to help you write a version that's not totally abusable.

Dimensional Jaunt: Essentially the same power as Dimensional Hop (CPsi), but only found on the Freedom Mantle. I would have no problem adding it to the Nomad's list.

[Endarire]

I mostly recycled Evard's black tentacles when making energy tentacles. The grapple modifier is the same (ML+8 vs. CL+8), but the damage type differs, and energy tentacles are more party-friendly.

[jiriku]

Energy Tentacles: This is a bit over the top, but not that much. You've added versatility of placement (vertical or upside down), considerable extra damage (more than twice EBT), and an easy way to avoid friendly fire. You've nerfed it slightly by allowing power resistance to negate the damage.

The first two benefits are modest, but the third is quite potent, since the manifester can create zones that are safe for allies but harmful and immobilizing for enemies.

To balance it, you might reduce the damage and/or reduce the rate at which the damage scales when augmented. Or you might reduce the flexibility of the safety feature, allowing the manifester to direct the tentacles only on his turn, or only as a move action. No matter what, I'd keep the ability to apply it to walls and ceilings, as that option encourages creativity and makes the ability more broadly useful without affecting its level of dakka.

Interposing Action: My gut check says it's ok.

Dimensional Jaunt: Looks fine to me, but there's no need for the third paragraph; there will always be an open space within 100' of the manifester -- the space he was in before manifesting dimensional jaunt.

[Zaydos]

Energy Tentacles: I'd second what cooperflood said. In its current form the tentacles have an AC but no hp and no notes on whether they can be damaged or not. If they have AC does that mean they can be damaged? Also damage is definitely too high. Instead of damage increasing with augmentation what about increasing grapple check modifier as unless you're fighting humanoid foes your enemies will quickly outstrip Level + 8 in grapple check and be immune. Also, yeah the friendly fire nature is worth at least one level over Evard's on its own.

Interposing Action works just like Greater Celerity (which doesn't grant a swift action but only a standard and a move action, and except for Nerveskitter all Immediate Actions cannot be used when Flat-Footed it's part of the definition of an immediate action) except it is better in two ways:
1. If used during your turn it grants you another swift action as well.

2. It doesn't daze you.

Then again Celerity is >>>> more broken than Greater Celerity simply because Celerity is 4th level and Greater Celerity is 8th. Generally though it's not so much Celerity that breaks things as Celerity + other broken thing (+ immunity to daze).

The inability to manifest it more than once per turn is useful, except that without a way to get extra swift actions (Ruby Knight is the only one I know of) you can't manifest Celerity/Greater Celerity more than once per turn (well technically you could manifest it as a standard action but that would be pointless except to get more move actions).

Dimensional Jaunt is a slightly improved version of Dimension Hop from Complete Psionics ported to Nomads (why don't Nomads get Dimension Hop :smallconfused:). As written you can take other people's familiar's and psicrystals, and due to share powers your own psicrystal doesn't need the line as you can manifest it on you and share it with the crystal. Also you don't normally need line of effect or sight for teleportation powers unless otherwise noted. So you should note it normally requires line of effect (like Dimension Hop specifies within line of sight).

[Endarire]

Updated to 1.1 with greater tidiness and clarity!

[jiriku]

Energy Tentacles: Your description for sonic mentions fire in two places. Some of the formatting code isn't working quite right inside the spoiler.

[Endarire]

Formatting fixed. How's the balance now?

[jiriku]

Looks good to me.

I suppose from a simplicity perspective, you might change the sonic damage to 3d4 and the cold/fire damage to 3d8, then rewrite the augment text to read "For every 2 more PP you spend, the damage to grappled victims increases by one additional die." This would eliminate a math operation when rolling damage. Probably that's a trivial change for 99% of players, but two people in my group have math-related learning disabilities, so it pops out at me.