Psionic Bard

[CornfedCommando]

Now that the new Psionic UA is out, it has me examining my Kalashtar Bard a bit. Given the way Psionics is currently being handled, particularly in regard to the Psionic Talent die, I wonder if there is a way to adapt this to the Bard.

For those of you who are fans of Pillars of Eternity, I’ve basically refluffed my bard to be a cipher. This didn’t require changing any mechanics; just the names of certain abilities.

But now that WOTC has introduced the Psionic Talent die, I wonder if the bard’s Inspiration dice could be rejiggered to be a Psionic Talent die instead. Change the die’s progression to match that in the UA instead of the PHB (5/11/17 instead of 5/10/15) and do away with Font of Inspiration. The capstone Superior Inspiration could reset a burned out die to it’s base level (d12 at that point). Given how the Psionic Talent die recovers, it’s maybe not super impressive, but still functional to some extent.

Too good? I’m just turning it over after first glance of the new UA. My character is from the College of Swords (Soul Blade). Perhaps the level 14 ability could instead allow the bard to always roll at least a d6, even if his Psionic Talent die is a d4 or burned out.

What do you think?

Edit: Probably too good. Constant Flourishes that rarely deplete is likely pushing it too far. Ah well. Feedback is still appreciated!

[Reynaerde]

I'm also constantly looking for ways to make my whisper bard feel a bit more psionic. The previous UA with psionic spells gave some fun spells for a bard to play around with, but I also really like your idea of finding a link between the bardic inspiration die and the talent die!

The only thing I would warn you against is changing the bardic inspiration die in such a way that it becomes virtually unlimited. The reason for this is that the various bards subclasses have ways to expend your bardic dice for something else and you don't want those things to become unlimited.

Personally I'm taking that Wild Talent Feat. If you have room for a feat as well, you could take that one as well and maybe convince your DM that the die you give out for bardic inspiration is always the same size as your psionic talent die? You could then call it psychic inspiration and you are set!

For my chaotic-evil whip-wielding changeling whisper bard 11/hexblade 1* the wild talent feat is so good I feel a bit guilty for wanting to take it. It gives me something nice and chaotic to increase my core skills with, while also increasing the damage on my whip attacks. I love it!


* I know. I just said chaotic-evil and hexblade 1 and you hate my character already. Just know that the pact is an integral part of the campaign (in fact 3 out of 4 players have a pact with either the raven queen directly or with the hexblade) and that we are playing in a morally grey campaign where we struggle to do more or less the right thing, but often fall short of being actual heroes. For my changeling it is their disgust for law and their fascination for uncovering hidden knowledge that tends to push them into the type of chaotic behavior with a disregard for outcomes that has recently started bordering on being evil. Funny enough the only good character in our party is a cleric to Tharizdun, who has a similar role as Silver Surfer has with guiding Galactus.

[CornfedCommando]

Ha! I personally have no problem with the Hexblade multiclass. It’s a kickass subclass with a cool theme. And honestly, power gaming isn’t a problem at our tables. My buddies just like to chuck dice, kill a few monsters, and have some laughs. My 11-year-old daughter can’t be bothered to know more than a third of her character’s abilities. She swings a sword, does some light healing, and uses her aasimar wings every chance she gets simply because they’re cool.

So when I play alongside her, it doesn’t matter how munchkin my class is cuz I’m not gonna steal her thunder. I do burn through Inspiration dice, though, usually to buff her rather than to use flourishes. And even then, she doesn’t really gronk it. She just likes it when I do voices and have in-character conversations with her. 😄

But yeah, I like the idea of a psionic themed bard. Maybe we’ll at least get a subclass at some point.