Quick Psionics question: Astral Construct Limit

[LansXero]

Hello, does anyone know where to find a limit on how many Astral Constructs can be up at the same time? Also, do Psionic Powers incur any failure % due to armor? Thanks!

[Kalaska'Agathas]

It depends on if you are using the nerf in Complete Psionic or not. If you aren't, then no, there aren't any limits on how many you can have up at once (save those of limits on actions and power points) but if you are then you may only have one at a time - which is dumb, as you can have multiple summons as an Arcanist so the limit makes no sense.

Also, no, armor does not interfere with Psionics at all.

[Greenish]

Psionics do not have Arcane Spell Failure (due to being neither Arcane nor Spells).

I seem to recall Comp. Psionic messing with Astral Constructs, but, well, Cpsi… The EPH/SRD Astral Constructs have no limits on how many you can have at once other than duration and PP cost.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Arcane spell failure for armor doesn't apply to anything but arcane spells. Divine spells, psionic powers, spell-like abilities, etc. completely ignore it.

Originally there was no limit to how many Astral Constructs a given character could have active. Complete Psionic reprinted the entire Astral Construct power, and included a limit of one per manifester at any given time. Many people ignore this nerf within reason, i.e. don't make so many that it slows down combat.

The Personal Construct (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070411a) ACF is highly recommended, it makes your Astral Construct power usable as a Swift Action instead of a 1 round casting time.

[LansXero]

Arcane spell failure for armor doesn't apply to anything but arcane spells. Divine spells, psionic powers, spell-like abilities, etc. completely ignore it.

Originally there was no limit to how many Astral Constructs a given character could have active. Complete Psionic reprinted the entire Astral Construct power, and included a limit of one per manifester at any given time. Many people ignore this nerf within reason, i.e. don't make so many that it slows down combat.

The Personal Construct (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070411a) ACF is highly recommended, it makes your Astral Construct power usable as a Swift Action instead of a 1 round casting time.

Can you manifest both a personal construct and a normal construct in the same round? Can you manifest more than one PERSONAL construct?

So the nerf would be in the Cpsi version of the astral construct power, no? :O

Edit: Clarified a bit

[sonofzeal]

- In Expanded Psionics Handbook, where "Astral Constructs" are originally described, there is no limit.

- Complete Psionics was written largely by different people. One of them was known for his outspoken opinions on summons in general. Since it was too late to change the rules on Arcane/Divine summons, he took it upon himself to change the Psionic ones to limit them to only one at a time. This is rather resented by the community, because it is the sort of change that belongs in Errata for XPH, not in a completely separate book. And since Arcane/Divine summons face no such restriction and the rule is unevenly applied, many people ignore it altogether.

- Arcane Spell Failure only applies to Arcane Spells, as the name implies. Divine and Psionics, not being Arcane, face no such restriction. Non-proficiency penalties still apply.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Can you manifest both a personal construct and a normal construct in the same round? Can you manifest more than one PERSONAL construct?

Personal Construct requires that you expend your psionic focus to make it a swift action, otherwise it's still a 1 round casting time. Yes, you could manifest Astral Construct using Personal Construct to make it a swift action, and then manifest Astral Construct again to make another one, in the same round. This is assuming you've somehow overcome the limit of one astral construct at a time. Keep in mind what a 1 round manifesting time (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicPowersOverview.htm#manifestingTime) involves, the construct won't appear until the start of your next turn.