Psionic vs Arcane. Which do you prefer?

[paladinofshojo]

I am going to start playing a spellcaster for a group, I was wondering should I be an arcane or psionic spellcaster, I am wondering which one is more reliable, which one is more practical, which one is more devastating, but above all, which one is more fun to play....

[ExtravagantEvil]

Well, the game "Power" is more often slotted into the Wizard section with a good reason, that I am too tired to go into immense detail. Psionics is quite a fun casting system that I want to delve more into but have not truly gotten the chance. I have a lot of fun with Arcanists due to the fluff/archetypes associated with their Arcane Omnipotence in V-esque power trips.
However, on the Crunchier side of it, Psionicists have a good deal of versatility about them with their Power Point system which I once again really like. I'm not well versed in the psionic tricks and powerful powers, besides a cursory knowledge of the Sandwich trick.
Psionics is fun, but Wizards do tend to be more in the lines of Definitively, truly, god awfully powerful with fun fluff. Psionicists have some amazing fluff and roleplaying opprotunities also, but they are still powerful but not as Much so.

[The-Mage-King]

I am going to start playing a spellcaster for a group, I was wondering should I be an arcane or psionic spellcaster, I am wondering which one is more reliable,

Psionics, if you aren't good as a Shrodenger's Wizard.


which one is more practical,

Psionics are, yet again, pretty practical- no somatic or verbal components means no one knowing who just blew up the warehouse from accross the street.

Arcane, though, has more power to bring to bear.


which one is more devastating,

Arcane. A well played Batman Wizard can wreck campaigns.


A well played Erudite can still wreck campaigns, but not nearly as much.


but above all, which one is more fun to play....


Psionics. Point based "casting" that allows even low level powers to remain relevant? Yes please.

[SamBurke]

Psionics has advantages: Balance, for one. Playability, (it's easy to learn, fewer powers) for second.

The problems, though, is the support. Psionics did not get a Power Compendum. Spells did. There's a good bit that you can do, but it's not massively varied.

[Endarire]

A Spell-to-Power (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a) Erudite doesn't need to choose!

[erikun]

This depends a lot on what system you are running. :smalltongue: I prefer to flavor of psionics, and so generally prefer running psions over arcanes, but that's just a personal preference.

Assuming 3.5e, psionics is generally more reliable than spellcasting. You have all your powers available to you at all times, like a Sorcerer who isn't limited by specific spell slots. You are still limited by your PP each day, though. 4e psionics are also generally more reliable, with most powers being at-wills that you augment with PP to produce daily-like abilities. This is unlike the wizard, who can cast one good spell and not have it until the next day.

For practicality, it depends on what you are looking for. It is generally easy to make good choices for psions, and to get a lot of use out of whatever powers you do choose. On the other hand, wizards can learn literally everything and can prepare scrolls for anything. Which is more practical depends on what you consider to be practical. There isn't really much of a difference in 4e, though, because all classes can swap out their abilities upon leveling up.

For which is more powerful, the crown goes to the arcanists. It really doesn't matter which version, because even in 4e the wizards have some of the best toys available. That said, it can be a small and almost unnoticable difference, depending on the level of optimization we are discussing.

If we are talking about fun, that is up to you. Psions get a handful of versatile powers that you will likely become very familiar with, as you will be using them a lot in different circumstances. Wizards get a ton of spells with specific guidelines, and must then work out which ones to prepare and use throughout the day. Whichever description sounds better is probably the one that would be more fun for you.


I am ignoring AD&D 2nd edition Psionics because, well, they weren't that good. They were generally a suboptimal choice and had a very bizarre activation method. You would probably want to avoid them.

If you are talking about another system entirely, then the advice would also be similarly different. I know that White Wolf has both magic (Mage) and psi (Trinity), and between the two, magic is far stronger and more versatile. It is also far more complex.

[GungHo]

It really depends on what I'm going for... but the same could be said for choosing Wizard over Sorceror or Warlock. Playing a Wizard will give you a larger arsenal to work with, but if you're willing to narrow things down and go for a more focused build, you can certainly be an asset to the team as a Psion. If there's a Wizard in the team already, focus on either filling niches that a Wizard isn't as easily adapted for or by complementing the Wizard's controlling abilities.

[Eldan]

Well, generally I prefer Arcane. For a few reasons:

Flavourful mechanics. I really like the idea of Vancian Spellcasting. Of hermetic wizards who try to predict what magic they will need in the near future, then bind spells in their minds in a pre-cast state to cast later. Compared to that, the "casting from mana points", which psionics basically is, is overused and bland (and least they didn't use the word mana again).

Flavour. One masters himself through the power of his will. The other masters the universe through the power of his intellect. I'm a science groupie at heart, and telling the universe to shut up and do what you tell it to do because you can just appeals to me.

Diversity. Now, I can't really blame core psionics for that, but several times when building a psionic high-level character, I noticed that, basically, I ran out of fitting powers to take. Level 8 and 9 powers are criminally sparse, so that often I just had to take all that were there, instead of any fitting ones. Complete Psi didn't really help there.
Spellcasting, on the other hand, has probably more spells in core than psionics get in all books together. Add the spell compendium to that, and there's just more spells than I will ever need, which means I can select just what I want for every caster I build.

[The Reverend]

I like psionics a lot, but wizards of the coast (SURPRISE!!!) writes tons of crunch, spells, prestige classes, and feats for wizards.

Once played a cerebromancer and was very satisfied. 3 levels of Psion 3 Levels of Wizard, 10 levels of awesome gets a plus one level to each caster and manifesting class each level of cerebremancer

[Psyren]

Psionics is better at some things, not so much at others.

For instance, if you want necromancy or illusions, keep walking. Summoning, while functional, is a lot more limited than magic as well.

What psionics is better at: Enchantment, Evocation and Divination. Casting without components. Action economy.

Both are roughly equal Transmutation-wise (though psionics sadly doesn't get Alter Self, it makes up for this with the ability to polymorph into objects.)


Perhaps the biggest issue is that psions have a hard time sharing their buffs with the party. If they're depending on you to spread the love around, you may want to go with magic instead.