Psions, I have no idea

[Lavranzo]

So, I think psions and the like sound really cool, but before rushing off to store and buying some materials about them, I'd like to know how they work. So if any of you guys sit with spare time on your hands and knowledge about psions, just waiting to burst out of your heads, please do tell me how Psions work. :smallsmile:

Thanks in advance!

[eggynack]

No need to venture off to a store to learn of psions. The expanded psionics handbook can be found on the d20SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/), free of charge.

[Emperor Tippy]

Think of them as video game magic users.

You get a pool of mana (power points) and every so often you get to pick up spells that get progressively more powerful (powers known). Then you get to cast those spells whenever you want (so long as you have the required power points/mana). You can choose to invest extra power points/mana into those spells to achieve greater effects (Augmentation in the power descriptions). The total amount of "mana" (power base cost plus any augmentation or metapower feats) that you can invest in a given casting is equal to your caster level (well manifester level). Once you are out of "mana" you need to rest for 8 hours to recover it all.

http://www.d20srd.org/ has the rules for Psions on it.

[kardar233]

Psions are a casting class much like the Sorcerer, but different in several fundamental ways.

Psions don't use spell slots; instead, they have a daily Power Point pool whose size is based on their class level and primary stat (Intelligence). These Power Points are used to manifest powers that you know; there is no limit on how many powers you can manifest apart from the depth of your power point pool. Psions gain access to higher-level powers at the same rate that Wizards get access to higher-level spells.

Psionic powers are slightly different from spells in several ways. They have a power point cost that starts out being equal to 1 + (the power's level x 2). Psionic powers are generally lower levelled than Wizard equivalents, but less powerful; this is offset by a mechanic called Augmentation. Augmenting a power means paying extra power points above the base cost to get a more powerful effect. This is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, this means you can scale your resource expenditure to the exact amount of force you need, but on the other hand Psions generally have to augment their powers to scale them to their level, so while a 10th-level Wizard can cast a Fireball from a 3rd-level slot for 10d6 damage, a 10th-level Psion casting Energy Ball would have to pay 10 power points for the same damage, which means he's effectively paying for a 5th-level power.

This brings me to the single most common misconception about Psions: You cannot spend more power points on a single power than your Manifester Level.

I'll repeat that, in bold: You cannot spend more power points on a single power than your Manifester Level. Many of the horror stories you'll hear about Psionics are caused by players either forgetting or "forgetting" that rule and blowing their entire daily power point pool on a single massive power. You can't do that.

What differentiates a Psion from a Sorcerer? First, the power point pool is interesting and fun to play with. Second, Psions don't rely on verbal, somatic or material components, which not only means they are good at casting covertly (and the displays of their powers can be easily hidden), but they can also wear heavy armour without impeding their casting. Third, the Psionic power list is really quite interesting and different than its competitors. Psionic powers are generally focused on the caster, with only a few short-ranged buffs; psionic blasting can change elements without trouble to take advantage of opponents' weaknesses, some effects like Time Stop are available earlier (Temporal Acceleration is a 6th-level power), and there are some really cool effects that are difficult to find anywhere else, like Death Urge, Control Body, and Fusion.

If there's anything I've missed Psyren or one of the other Psionics gurus will probably be around in a moment (or before this is even posted, the damn Lurks).

[Lavranzo]

Thanks a lot all of you :)
I'll play a psion for sure now (They sound hella cool)
Really great and informative comparison by kardar, it helped a lot :)

[charlesk]

This brings me to the single most common misconception about Psions: You cannot spend more power points on a single power than your Manifester Level.

I'll repeat that, in bold: You cannot spend more power points on a single power than your Manifester Level. Many of the horror stories you'll hear about Psionics are caused by players either forgetting or "forgetting" that rule and blowing their entire daily power point pool on a single massive power. You can't do that.


True and important, though it's worth noting that there are some exceptions to this, such as the Overchannel feat and the Wild Surge feature of the Wilder and Anarchic Initiate classes.

Speaking of which, be sure to check out the psion variants in the SRD and also in Complete Psionic (though some people really hate the latter because of its odd theming and various nerfs to psionic powers.. though some IMO were needed.)

[frogglesmash]

I'll repeat that, in bold: You cannot spend more power points on a single power than your Manifester Level. Many of the horror stories you'll hear about Psionics are caused by players either forgetting or "forgetting" that rule and blowing their entire daily power point pool on a single massive power. You can't do that.

While this is true it is also true that psions are very good at not only breaking the action economy but disregarding it entirely at times.

[kardar233]

While this is true it is also true that psions are very good at not only breaking the action economy but disregarding it entirely at times.

Yes, but my experience suggests that people who actually know how to use and properly take advantage of the Psion's action economy shenanigans generally know better than to spring them on new and unsuspecting DMs.

[Darkweave31]

While this is true it is also true that psions are very good at not only breaking the action economy but disregarding it entirely at times.

No better than a wizard is at doing it. Yes, there is one infinite action loop using psionics, but it's like saying a (fallen) paladin is a good spellcaster because pun pun.

Psions are great, definitely try one out.

[Crake]

They have a power point cost that starts out being equal to 1 + (the power's level x 2).

This should actually be (the power's level x2) -1, by that formula, a level 1 power costs 3 points.

[Turion]

Psions are a casting class much like the Sorcerer, but different in several fundamental ways.

Psions don't use spell slots; instead, they have a daily Power Point pool whose size is based on their class level and primary stat (Intelligence). These Power Points are used to manifest powers that you know; there is no limit on how many powers you can manifest apart from the depth of your power point pool. Psions gain access to higher-level powers at the same rate that Wizards get access to higher-level spells.

Psionic powers are slightly different from spells in several ways. They have a power point cost that starts out being equal to 1 + (the power's level x 2). Psionic powers are generally lower levelled than Wizard equivalents, but less powerful; this is offset by a mechanic called Augmentation. Augmenting a power means paying extra power points above the base cost to get a more powerful effect. This is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, this means you can scale your resource expenditure to the exact amount of force you need, but on the other hand Psions generally have to augment their powers to scale them to their level, so while a 10th-level Wizard can cast a Fireball from a 3rd-level slot for 10d6 damage, a 10th-level Psion casting Energy Ball would have to pay 10 power points for the same damage, which means he's effectively paying for a 5th-level power.

This brings me to the single most common misconception about Psions: You cannot spend more power points on a single power than your Manifester Level.

I'll repeat that, in bold: You cannot spend more power points on a single power than your Manifester Level. Many of the horror stories you'll hear about Psionics are caused by players either forgetting or "forgetting" that rule and blowing their entire daily power point pool on a single massive power. You can't do that.

What differentiates a Psion from a Sorcerer? First, the power point pool is interesting and fun to play with. Second, Psions don't rely on verbal, somatic or material components, which not only means they are good at casting covertly (and the displays of their powers can be easily hidden), but they can also wear heavy armour without impeding their casting. Third, the Psionic power list is really quite interesting and different than its competitors. Psionic powers are generally focused on the caster, with only a few short-ranged buffs; psionic blasting can change elements without trouble to take advantage of opponents' weaknesses, some effects like Time Stop are available earlier (Temporal Acceleration is a 6th-level power), and there are some really cool effects that are difficult to find anywhere else, like Death Urge, Control Body, and Fusion.

If there's anything I've missed Psyren or one of the other Psionics gurus will probably be around in a moment (or before this is even posted, the damn Lurks).

This is a really good summary of the manifesting system; the other thing worth mentioning is psionic focus. Basically, any creature with a power point pool can gain psionic focus as a full-round action (although there are ways to reduce this to a Move or even a Swift) with a DC20 concentration check (as an aside, how did I only just now find out about this bit?) There are several psionic feats or abilities that require you to be psionically focused, and several more require you to expend it to activate the ability, most notably metapsionic feats (the equivalent of metamagic). This means that you can generally only apply one metapsionic feat to a given manifestation, although there are a few exceptions to this rule.


True and important, though it's worth noting that there are some exceptions to this, such as the Overchannel feat and the Wild Surge feature of the Wilder and Anarchic Initiate classes.

snip

Actually, these aren't exceptions; Wild Surge and Overchannel both temporarily boost your manifester level. /nitpick

[Thrice Dead Cat]

One more thing that I at least missed by those who posted, but psions must specialize. There are also some powers that are only on the power school lists, which bars non-specialists from taking them for free.

That being said, Expanded Knowledge is much better than the arcane equivalent feat as it explicitly allows you to take powers off of other lists. This way a nomad psion can take kinetist only powers or even psychic warrior powers.

[Urpriest]

One big thing that nobody has mentioned yet, but that confuses a lot of people: Psion is just one example of a class that can use Psionic Powers.

Basically, they're the "Wizard" of their system. There's also a "Sorceror" called a Wilder, and a martial combatant (Psychic Warrior). Later books introduced Ardents (like Clerics), Erudites (even more like Wizards), Divine Minds (vaguely like Paladins but generally considered to be really poorly designed), and Psychic Rogues and Lurks (both filling the "rogue with psychic powers" archetype). There are also several Prestige Classes that give access to Psionic Powers.

I'm mentioning this because a lot of new players tend to refer to the whole system as if everyone was a Psion, and miss the range of options available.