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META_mahn
2017-07-09, 11:12 PM
In recent times I came to have an odd obsession with the Dragonmarks from Eberron. By extension I guess I became kinda obsessed with Eberron - Dragonmarked too. (That's a lie, I loved Dragonmarked.)

Wanting to have a little fun I decided to make myself a Psionic dragonmark. So, here it is.

I decided to make the Mark of Mind more powerful than the average dragonmark. I also wanted it to have more of a scaling benefit rather than the instantaneous burst benefits you otherwise get from dragonmarks, something a PC would take because it was a good investment.
I interpreted that as sort of in-character for a race that tends to be very rational.

It is intentionally more powerful, since the Mark of Mind is technically "not" a true dragonmark, nor is it an aberrant dragonmark. As a result it doesn't qualify for any of the juicy dragonmark feats in Eberron - Dragonmarked.

===Mark of Mind===

At a given period in history, the Elans, an artificial life form, as well as the Halfling nations decided to study the mysterious Dragonmarks. As an experiment, the Elans attempted to replicate these dragonmarks, bestowing them on some of their own, still in the psionic vats of their great academy, chosen to be the best. Soon after the batch, the experiment was hidden and only the highest class of personnel were allowed to know it.

All Marks of Mind qualify as Psion Bonus Feats.
Requirements: Must be an Elan.
Does not qualify for other dragonmarked feats.

Least Mark of Mind:

Gain +1 PP/level, applies to past levels as well.
Manifesting Elan Defense abilities are now Free, Immediate actions.
+2 to Spellcraft.

Spellcraft just seemed like something right to throw at whoever takes the mark.

I interpreted the first level of this mark as a sort of "base" that the Elans would have built the rest of their psychic power off of. So, the natural base would be extra PP and faster racials. Granted if you're not careful, you'll still burn through your PP like no tomorrow and you're capped out by your manifester level in PP per use, so, Elan tactical whatever.

I debated on giving +2 PP/level instead, but I ran some numbers and I felt like it would just be a bit much. I also felt like the Free, Immediate Elan Defense abilities simply felt right. A bit more powerful than the average dragonmark, but not by much. Psions really don't use their Swifts anyways, so this was basically just me saying "Now you can tank a little better."

Lesser Mark of Mind:

Permanent 60' aura of Detect Magic/Detect Psionics. Take a 7 on rolls in this field of Detect Magic/Detect Psionics.
Elan Defense: Damage absorption is now 3 points reduced/PP used. Boosting saves is now a +6.
+2 to effective manifester level.

This was meant to be more of a utility/defensive tier of mark. The increase in Effective Manifester Level allowed a PC to burn more points per round,
which meant they could negate more damage per round, therefore saving their squishy butts from getting pounded by, say, a rogue golem or something. The extra bit of defensive power just let their racial scale a little better, more with lore in mind rather than mechanics in mind, although I ran a few numbers here and there.

Greater Mark of Mind:

2/day Metapsionic Quicken
+2 to Touch AC
When a spell or power is cast, whose effect lands within 30' of you, you regain (level of spell/2, rounded up) PP.
+2 to effective manifester level.

This probably by far is the most controversial. There is some defensive ability, but I wanted this tier to have the best synergy with the rest of the tiers,
as well as being somewhat of an anti-mage tier as well as an offensive-focused tier. The 2/day free Metapsionic Quicken was sort of inspired by the Xephs, but also a friend's recommendation for the Elans to have a "panic button" ability to GTFO or OHGOD nuke something fast.

I do realize that the clause which is sort of like a "power siphon" ability can lead to infinite PP farm exploting. To that, I say: If your party has that many Psions to the extent they can circlejerk around and farm PP that way, you as a DM probably have bigger issues. And for NPCs it makes a hilarious gimmick to screw with the players.

Lyuketsu
2017-07-10, 01:33 AM
That looks pretty cool. I personally LOVE Eberron, and my major campaign that i am running right now is set there.

This is actually kind of similar to what i have done for my campaign where i have made 6 special dragonmarks for my party (2 for each Khyber, Eberron and Syberis dragons :P).

Have you used this mark in a campaign to date, because i would be very interested to see how it works out?

META_mahn
2017-07-10, 10:38 AM
Have you used this mark in a campaign to date, because i would be very interested to see how it works out?

Sadly, no. But I did make it as an option for one of my players. That player did express interest in the Dragonmark, and it did fit the setting since one big war against the other planes has occurred already so the mark was in a way preparation for an eventual second war.

The player in question is quite new to 3.5e, and D&D in general, but that player is also very good at taking the tools given to them in a game and stretching their potential about as far as they can go...provided they have enough energy to think of how. So, good test I suppose. (At least the player's using the Nomad discipline for Psion which I had to buff to high heavens because Nomads suck.)

I'm not sure if it should be elgible for the Artificer Infusion Ignite Dragonmark, though. Ignite Dragonmark makes an Artificer badass as hell in a Dragonmark-heavy campaign, but at the same time...we'd have to argue whether or not it is a true dragonmark in terms of spell purposes.

when will i stop spam-editing posts