Telepathy Specifics

[Newwby]

I'm thinking of playing a Telepath(Psion)/Thrallherd in an upcoming game but I've never played a Psionics character before but I've been reading voraciously on the subject.

Four specific things (some with secondary questions that occurred to me whilst writing) aren't clear to me however;

1) If I'm under the effect of the Schism (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Schism) power can I still use the effect of the Quicken Power (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#quickenPower) feat as part of my 'first' minds action?

2) If I take the Psicrystal Containment (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#psicrystalContainment) feat, can I expend the psionic focus of both my crystal and myself to both Empower and Enlarge a single power - or are powers limited to one metapsionic feat at a time?

3) With regards to the Metaconcert (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Metaconcert) power, can I act whilst under the effect of the metaconcert or are all participants unable to act as individuals? Can the conductor act both individually and to direct the metaconcert? If I become a Thrallherd can I use my believers (ideally my higher level ones) as part of a metaconcert? I assume I can use thralls as part of a metaconcert since they are more fleshed out?

4) As a Thrallherd (I've never used the Leadership feat either) can I specifically outline the kind of thrall I want to follow me, e.g. design a pseudocharacter or just outline the kind of character I would like OR does the DM have final say on what thrall I attract? Is this just a case of home ruling it?

Thankyou in advance for any help you can provide - suggestions on how to run/play a powerful telepath/thrallherd are also welcome.

[Psyren]

1) Your primary mind gets all the actions (move, swift, immediate, standard) so yes, you can use the swift of your primary mind to manifest a quickened power. The secondary mind is standard-only so it would be unable to use a swift. (Note however that some DMs let you take any lesser action using a higher one so you may want to ask anyway.)

2) You can apply as many metapsionic feats as you have foci to spend on them. Yes, Psicrystal Containment will allow you to apply two feats to one manifestation.

3) Metaconcert is tricky and its use depends on whether you are playing 3.5 or PF.

In 3.5: Yes, the metaconcert "entity" gets its own set of actions, though there are some parts of the ability that are very unclear as a result of this. Does it get a move action? Can it focus and use your metapsionic feats? etc. The conductor does get to direct the entity and take actions of his own, but the action needed to direct it is unspecified. Logically, this would either be a free action or a move action.

In PF: the conductor acts on his own, but if he manifests a power, he can choose whether to do so using his own mind or that of the concert. This clears up a lot of the ambiguities of the 3.5 version but does weaken the power a bit since the entity can no longer act on its own.

In both editions though, the other participants are free to act normally so long as they don't move out of range.

4) Just as with Leadership, you can attempt to attract a specific build of Thrall/Cohort. And just as with Leadership, your DM does get final say.

[Eric Scott]

4) If you aren't happy with the Thralls you attract, you can always just kill them and get new ones the next day at no penalty.

Edit: You can eventually get ones that you like... it just might take a while.

[Newwby]

Thanks for the reply, cleared it up and given me more ideas to think on now :smallsmile:

I think repeatedly killing my thralls to force the DM to roll up new ones might annoy him, but that's a chance I'm willing to take :smallbiggrin:

[Psyren]

Thanks for the reply, cleared it up and given me more ideas to think on now :smallsmile:

I think repeatedly killing my thralls to force the DM to roll up new ones might annoy him, but that's a chance I'm willing to take :smallbiggrin:

Note that the specific build/combination you want may simply not exist in the world, or it may be a lower level than you would like. Remember, the Thrall/Cohort level is the maximum level such a character can have; you can end up attracting one significantly less experienced. For example, if you want a "psionic artificer" there may be just one in the world, who is just beginning to explore the technique.