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View Full Version : Refluffing Psionics with "Eastern" philosophy?



gadren
2015-10-26, 09:08 AM
In any of their D&D games, has anyone ever refluffed psionics to be more of an "Eastern" philosophy enlightenment thing than this vaguely sci-fi crystal thing it is typically depicted as?
Has anyone ever posted an in-depth write-up on this?

LudicSavant
2015-10-26, 09:16 AM
In any of their D&D games, has anyone ever refluffed psionics to be more of an "Eastern" philosophy enlightenment thing than this vaguely sci-fi crystal thing it is typically depicted as?
Has anyone ever posted an in-depth write-up on this?

Well, you don't have to do a lot of work. Dorjes, magic tattoos, and the like are directly from ancient Eastern mythology.

By contrast, various things from D&D's magic system are from science fiction. Ioun stones, for instance, are harvested from the cores of neutron stars in Jack Vance's Dying Earth series. In fact the entire spellcasting mechanic is based on Jack Vance's science fiction.

Material components are even MacGuyver gags. For example, with Lightning Bolt you create a charge with amber and some fur. For Acid Arrow you take rhubarb and snake venom and put it on a dart that you throw at the other guy. For See Invisibility you actually blow talc at people. For Alarm you use a tiny bell and a length of very fine wire to make a perimeter. For Scry you have to get nitric acid, copper, and zinc to make an archaic battery to power a specially treated mirror.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0047.html