Need Help Finding Psionic Game-Breakers, levels 1-3

[wayfare]

Hey All:

I am going to be running a game where all PCs can learn psionic powers, and I was hoping y'all could give me a few clues as to which powers I should hit with ye olde banaxe:


########
# +3 #
#-BAN-#############(0)
# Vicious #
########

Players gain 1 power at 1st level and every 2 levels thereafter (the game caps out at level 10).

1st level powers are available at creation
2nd level powers are gained at level 4
3rd level powers are gained at level 7

Any input would be a great help!

[kardar233]

Synchronicity is a commonly cited one.

[SowZ]

Hey All:

I am going to be running a game where all PCs can learn psionic powers, and I was hoping y'all could give me a few clues as to which powers I should hit with ye olde banaxe:


########
# +3 #
#-BAN-#############(0)
# Vicious #
########

Players gain 1 power at 1st level and every 2 levels thereafter (the game caps out at level 10).

1st level powers are available at creation
2nd level powers are gained at level 4
3rd level powers are gained at level 7

Any input would be a great help!

5 powers, levels 1-3? Unless they can cast them at will or get tons of power points, I don't think they should be too much of a problem. Ego Whip should only daze on a failed save, though, and Id Insinuation is pretty strong.

Synchronicity is easy to fix. Simply don't allow it to grant multiple actions. (There are tricks to use Synchronicity to give yourself multiple standard actions, whereas the spell is intended to let you take your action whenever you wish.)

[wayfare]

5 powers, levels 1-3? Unless they can cast them at will or get tons of power points, I don't think they should be too much of a problem. Ego Whip should only daze on a failed save, though, and Id Insinuation is pretty strong.

Synchronicity is easy to fix. Simply don't allow it to grant multiple actions. (There are tricks to use Synchronicity to give yourself multiple standard actions, whereas the spell is intended to let you take your action whenever you wish.)

I'm thinking of a standardized formula for pp, something like

Level 1: 3 points
Level 2: 7 points
Level 3: 11 points
Level 4: 16 points
Level 5: 21 points
Level 7: 27 points
Level 8: 33 points
Level 9: 40 points
Level 10: 47 points

With bonus pp based on the average of Wisdom and Constitution scores.

[kestrel404]

Psionics is remarkably well balanced at low levels. Don't bother with bans, just keep track of what the PCs have available.

[Rubik]

Psionics is remarkably well balanced at low levels. Don't bother with bans, just keep track of what the PCs have available.This.

As mentioned, just don't allow extra actions with Synchronicity and you'll be fine.

[wayfare]

This.

As mentioned, just don't allow extra actions with Synchronicity and you'll be fine.

Thanks, guys!

Any advice fo folks who want to use the psychic warrior powers instead of psion/wilder powers. the psy warriors seem to have some purpose built powers that are really awesome, but many of their powers just seem to be weaker versions of psion powers (looking at anything that does teleportation)

[JoshuaZ]

There are a few infinite power stunts one can do with Bestow Power points. But the easy way to do this is to rule that the subject can't gain more power points than you spend on the power (so if you have some ability which reduces the power point cost to manifest you can't use that to get more power points out than you put in). Other than that and the already mentioned Synchronicity, most things at low levels are pretty sane.

[Gotterdammerung]

Well, you might not agree with me, but Astral Construct is a very strong power at low lvls.

It becomes broken if a player uses material to support it. It becomes even more powerful if you use Bruce Cordell's "Hyperconscious" (a 3rd party book from Malhavoc Press).

By 6th lvl, with the right feats, a player can summon a very strong 9th lvl astral construct. With 3rd party it will stick around for 10 minutes. This is the astral construct intended to be summoned by a 17th lvl psion (not a 9th lvl psion's astral construct).

In a full fledged 1- infinite campaign, this trick will taper off in power. But in a 1-10 campaign, this accelerated astral construct summoning rate will always be very strong. The campaign will end before it starts losing its power. And in the lvl 2-5 range, this build kind of destroys everything without trying.

Aside from getting an expendable meat shield with powerful offensive stats for the current level, many of the construct augments can't be dealt with at an early level.

[Andreaz]

Well, you might not agree with me, but Astral Construct is a very strong power at low lvls.On its own the power is just about right.

[Gotterdammerung]

On its own the power is just about right.

Well, he is looking for potential power problems arising from a free boon he is bestowing on his players. I would imagine this includes the possibility of brokedness that arises from a player actually supporting this boon with character resources. And off of that assumption, I deemed this tidbit of optimization worthy of a mention.

Sorry if I misunderstood the OP's intentions.

[WhatBigTeeth]

Sense Danger and Forced Dream from Magic of Eberron come to mind.

(Granted, Synchronicity and Link Power are the crux of their most flagrant abuses, but they're both far too powerful for level 2-3 powers.)

[Andreaz]

Time Hop is a supremely useful power, so expect it.
You can use it to bypass anything without damaging them. For example you could be fleeing a rolling boulder Indiana Jones style, and ahead of you a few hostiles are ready to intercept your path. You time hop yourself so the boulder is past you when you're back!

Running on a long hallway you spot a trap. You time hop the floor tile that triggers it and run past. Your persecutors may step on it!


That's the power's intended use, and isn't one I mind, but it may get you by surprise. A way to avoid shenanigans is to make sure you only send in whole objects/creatures. No-sell any attempts to, say, timehop a safe's lock or someone's wielded weapon.

[Fyermind]

I'd watch out for matter agitation. It's far from broken, but at level 1 it is fairly high gear. I'd encourage players to wait until third level to grab it, but keep it a first level power. Vigor and share pain with a companion of any sort is a thing and should be watched out for, but again it is far from game breaking.