Hyperconsciousness: a detailed look

[classy one]

I am writing this mainly to give a concise overview of what to expect. Mainly for the sake of player and DMs who would like to utilize it but don't know where to start. I also plan on doing one for Untapped Potential as well.

I will start by saying I love this book, but lament that CPsi, also written by Bruce Cordell, wasn’t as high a quality. However, there are hints that this book was a sort of preamble to CPsi which came later. Either way I’d say it is a must have book for any serious 3.5 psionics player (there are still those of you out there right?) especially since so few books were published. Enjoy and Please add whatever input as you see fit.

Feats: I would consider this section a success on Cordell’s part. It offers more solid options for psionic characters, just wish he thought of them when he wrote Complete Psionics. Real winner here are the metapsionic feats, especially Persistent power and the feats that let you manifest even while stunned/dazed for wilders, the real red haired step daughters of psionics.

Good: Almost everyone will find a use for these feats.

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Creature capacitor: you are a cognizance crystal that can store as much PP as your ML. Basically it gives you one extra manifesting at your highest level, which is a big deal for all manifesters but especially one’s with low PP pool to begin with like lurks, psywar and psyrogues.

Durable construct: Astral construct is a popular power for good reason but at earlier level s it’s 1 round/ML makes it impractical. This one feat increases that to a full 10 minutes and you DON’T need to expend focus either. It does require the feat boost construct, but if you are making heavy use of ACs, it is a feat you want anyway. Many PrCs deal with AC like dreamwright, dreamkeeper, constructor, and ectopic adept. And all of them would be consider this feat. Doesn't work on Astral Juggernaunt.

Psychic bastion: Reduces ability depletion by 3 as long as you are focused. Another great candidate for permenant focus. This “includes poison, ability drain, ability damage, or enhancement penalties to ability scores”. This is a must have feat since ability damage is a “short cut” way to winning encounters (i.e. Shivering hand). No prerequisites either other than having a PP pool. Now it will prevent ability burn of Body Fuel, but it will also prevent you from gaining any benefit from it. Unless you burn 4 from STR, DEX, and CON you won't gain any PP. Only real weakness in this feat is the fact you need maintain psionic focus.

Permanent focus: Before anyone takes this literally, it only applies for a feat that requires you maintain focus in order to gain it’s benefits. This includes old and familiar feats like Speed of thought, up the walls, and Psionic Dodge. So just using XPH, it’s pretty decent. The real kicker is when you start using feats found in Hyperconsciousness and Untapped Potential. UT has feats known as Mantras, which give you a continuous benefit as long as you are focused for one minute, and allows you to expend it for an even larger instant benefit. This feat lets you have your cake and eat it too, so to speak. But the real reason it will be picked is most likely for Persistent Power, which requires you to maintain focus to make a power last 24 hours. Continual power is also a good candidate for this feat. Requires Narrow mind which is a good feat to have anyway, esp at lower levels.

Persistent Power (metapsi): The most famous feat in the book, bar none. Unlike most metapsionic feats, this one doesn’t expend focus. Just like persistent spell, this makes a personal or fixed range power last all day. This makes the power 12 PP more to manifest and maintaining psionic focus. Basically you have to have Permanent focus (and/or psicrystal containment) because you need your focus for everything (cough: linked power). Other feats you will need to make this work are: metapower (CPsi), Stone power (from RoS), and Student of the Mind (Untapped potential) to drop this cost to a manageable 8PP. Having Overchannel or wild surge (especially wild surge) wouldn’t hurt either. Better yet classes like the Metamind (from XPH not the one in this book) that allows for free manifesting free up a lot of cap space to apply this feat.

Continual power (metapsi): makes any damaging power have a duration of “concentrate” and deals 2 less dice per turn as long as you main focus as well. This is great for any type of caster, since it frees you up to do other things if you use solicit psicrystal in conjunction. This feat also opens up what you can use with solict psicrystal since, let’s be honest, there isn’t really that many good damage dealing powers with concentrate other than energy current and matter agitation. Each round afterwards is treated as a new manifestation, hence re-rolling for saves. Now all those damage+ debuffs suddenly take on a whole new light (like energy stun, energy flash etc).

Wounding resonance (metapsi): If your power deals damage, then it also deals one point of CON damage. No save and multiple hits stack. Not many powers deal CON damage, and this one feat remedies that problem, and softens them up for Fort save or die/suck powers, and this book provides a lot of Fort save or dies. It does require you to expend your focus so psionic meditation is a must.

Skill finesse: Use your manifesting ability modifier for a skill rather than its default. So if you were a psion with very high INT but only so-so CON, you pick concentration for this feat and now you can add your INT modifier to it rather than your CON. There is always that one skill that you would like to be good at but the limits of a point buy prevent it. Good examples are UPD for psyrogues and lurks (who use INT), autohypnosis for anyone who isn’t a psywar or ardent, concentration for non-psywars. Almost all builds will have a skill that is the “odd man out”, and this feat corrects that. This is especially true for cross class skills where every little +1 counts.

Heighten dorje: Not so useful for psionic artificers since they have a class feature that does this, but for everyone else, this lets you augment (albeit in a limited fashion) the powers in a dorje. If using items or UPD is a core part of how you play then this is a welcome addition. Although it only increases the manifestation by 1 ML it doesn’t use extra charges like the artificers’ and “pays” for itself, making any dorje in your possession that much more valuable.

Sequester Power: You lose access from one power for 24 hours and in return get a bonus to your PP pool. The sequestered power returns to you the next day. So let’s say you have a pretty niche power like Stygian Bane. If you were fighting undead that would be great, but this campaign is no where near a graveyard and you want it make some use of it. You sequester it and now you have 5 more PP. Might not sound like to much but that is one extra manifesting, and for PP starved classes like psywar and lurk (or even lolDivine Minds) it makes a big difference. Another reason to take this is that it is a requirement for the Colorless adept PrC, which lets you “upload” your sequestered power into a mental network and share it. More on the Colorless Adept later, but just note now, it is a good PrC.

Visceral Surge: If you hit your target with a melee or ranged attack, you can expend focus and render them cowered. No save. I first thought it needed a confirmed crit, but I was wrong. The fact it is no save makes this quite deadly, only real limiting factor is need for focus.

Niche: Not everyone will benefit from these, but the ones that do will get a lot of mileage from them.

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Lucid Dreaming: if using dreamscape rules, this feat lets you 1) know you are dreaming (i.e. you don’t lose your sense of self) and 2) can use all your skills, powers, items etc. Unless you are a Kalashtar, Quori Mindhunter, or elf your mind is the most vulnerable while you sleep. This feat removes that risk and could save you a lot of trouble, especially if you are going against something like the Quori. It should also increase your save against spells like nightmare but it doesn’t specify by how much. You need this to qualify for the Awakened Dreamer.

Sub and Preconscious power: very similar to unconditional power but with key differences. Subconsious power lets you manifest powers on yourself while incapacitated (just like unconditional power) but without expending your focus. Preconscious power lets you target others while incapacitated, also without expending your focus. Both increase the cost by 8. Basically must haves for high level wilders. This effectively makes psychic enervation cost you only a move action and PP rather than a full turn. Even non-wilders can benefit from this as everyone has had times where they get stunned/dazed or even at 0 HP.

Mental adversary--> Disarm mind/Overwhelm buffer: if mindscape combat is active in your game then you will want all 3 of these. Winning mindscape combat gives you a significant advantage in psionic combat akin to battle of wills from Tome of Battle. Mental adversary gives you a +3 to the opposed roll, while overwhelm buffer lets you engage in mindscape combat with non-psionic opponents. Needless to say, psionic characters hold a big advantage in mindscape combat (a lot more modifiers).

Primordial and Wounding Cut: for critical hit minded fighters like those with improved critical or keen weapons, or better yet a psychic weapon master could greatly benefit from these feats if he can spare them . Primordial surge is okay, it leaves the target shaken (-2 on all d20 rolls) for the rest of the encounter. The DC of this is directly related to how much damage you do on your critical attack. Wounding cut deal one point of CON damage on a crit. They are not too bad except you need to expend your focus in order to use them. So you can’t use these feats with each other or with instinctive consummator (CPsi) which lets you expend focus to instantly confirm a critical hit.

Craft dreamgift and Infuse dream: Say you are a DM and you need a way for the mooks to have good gear but the can’t explain how they could afford it given their grunt status. Enter craft dreamgift. Dreamstained items are just like normal psionic items but only half the cost to make. They do cause one point of temporary CON damage and some bad dreams (which result in another CON damage on a failed Fort save DC=10), as a side effect, but one or two items is realistic. Also the side effects prevent PCs from cannibalizing and/or hoarding loot, since the CON damage can add up and after a few natural 1’s the damage can snowball. Unequipping the items instantly restores the lost CON.

Unneeded and plain bad: just to show that they can't all be winners....

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Latent Psi: gain crappy PLA, only once a day and doesn’t scale.
Dorje blade: Dorje’s make for bad weapons, and it’s not like you can blast and cut in one action.
Enduring and Permanent tattoo: made obsolete by Psionic tattoo mastery .
Penetrating Power: so it stacks with Power penetration but still needs to expend psionic focus? So you need 2 foci to use it….. the only up side is that it is a metapsionic feat which means an ardent with the dominant ideal ACF could use it freely.

[classy one]

Items: Not a bad selection of things here, and generally rather balanced. Synaptic masks do run the risk of making mid-level skill monkeys obsolete (or make them ever greater). You be the judge.

Dreamstained items: Already noted in the feats section that these items are dirt cheap and give you an excuse give your mooks decent gear. The side effect is pretty substantial; you take one point of CON damage (no save), and each night you must make a DC=10 Fort save or take another CON damage. Since your CON modifier is tied to your Fort saves this can have a snowball effect, especially if you wear multiple dreamstained items. The DC is fairly low, but natural 1’s do happen, and for each one you roll, the more likely you will fail the next night. Thankfully they go away once you remove them. Dreamstained items are the same to regular items in all ways expect for the CON damage and the cost. You can make a dreamstained item of anything at half the cost. You could be creative and make dreamstained psionic shackles (found in UT) and “equip” them on your prisoner to not only nerf their manifesting but also cause them CON damage and bad dreams (which also cause CON damage).

Psychic Bastion will prevent this CON damage, and it should be noted that races that don't dream, like the Kalashtar are immune as well. Of course, another way to bypass the damage is to simply relinquish the item and try again after a "washout" peroid. Kind of like a "dreamstained hot potato"

Psicrystal Staves: place your psicrystal in top a staff and it can acts as if it is 2 levels higher. How beneficial this really is debatable since having your psicrystal mobile is one of its main draws. If you are working with “psicrystals get feats” rule then getting that extra feat 2 levels early might be a decent deal. Once your psicrystal is set, you can add accessories called setting (max=1) and companion stones (max=10). Setting stone have potent 1/day effect (apopsi, +2 to everything you do, or duplicate a power) while companion stones offer smaller benefits (i.e. energy resistance, + skill check etc). In the end, I personally feel these benefits are not justified because most of what makes a psicrystal good is nullified by immobilizing it.

Synaptic masks: Remember the shards that give you a one time bonus to a skill? Synaptic masks allow you use that same shard over and over again. Just stick it into the mask and wear the mask, and you have a nice semi-permanent competence bonus. Meld stones are like shards but you can only use them in a synaptic mask. They provide competence bonuses to three related skills.

[classy one]

Powers: Well this is the real meat and potatoes. I hope someone will read this and help look for dirty tricks, or off the cuff uses with me. I also made recommendations as to which could be added to a lurk and/or psyrogue’s power list. I would make the same recommdations for the Ardent/Divine Minds’ mantles but since you can use the substitute power ACF I felt it wasn’t needed.
1st-Level Psion/Wilder Powers

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Avaunt. You gain a +2 bonus on your Intimidate check.
Aver. You gain a +2 bonus on your Bluff check.
Bound. You gain a +2 bonus on your Jump check.
Broker. You gain a +2 bonus on your Diplomacy check.
Jigger. You gain a +2 bonus on your Open Lock check.
Judge. You gain a +2 bonus on your Sense Motive check.
Skill boosting powers. Spend one PP as a swift action to gain +2 on that check. Augmented by +1 for every extra 2PP making scale with your level. All of these are definitely going into my lurk/psyrogue list. Bound is a useless power due to the existance of mighty spring in CPsi which costs the same, is a swift action and adds +10 to a jump check.

Chrysalis. You gain damage reduction 1/—.
The DR will prevent 10 HP/ML with a duration of 10 minutes. Pretty good for a level one power. You can boost it another DR +1/- with 4 PP. Which I doesn’t is feel worthwhile.

Circumstance Shield. You gain a +2 insight bonus on Reflex saves
Needs a standard action but lasts for 1 hour/day. Other than lurks/psyrogues and soulknieves most manifester have bad reflex saaves. By level 6-7 this is basically a free +2 on Reflex. The augmentation costs 5 PP for another +1. Not really worth it if you ask me.

Clot. You resist bleeding.
If it wasn’t for psychic bastion, I’d say this is a decent power. But since psychic bastion is always active, doesn’t require any action, and covers all attributes, this is a waste.

Detect Compulsion. You know if the target is controlled.
As a DM I must say I dislike this power. This book introduces using dominate to make thralls out of NPC, and PCs with this power could really ruin my BBEG’s plans. I can only hope they won’t pick because it sounds underwhelming.

Mind Vault. You store an item in a Shallows dreamscape.
Shallows is a special part of dream that is accessible from the waking world (to an extent) This power lets you use that dream for storage. Before you throw away you bag of holdings, you should know that the items stored can only be picked up again when you sleep (and dream). So okay for long term storage, but not for things you need on the fly.

Resistance, Psionic. You gain a +2 resistance bonus on saves for one minute/level.
Meh. Needs a stand action and doesn’t last very long at lower levels. Move on.

Sleep, Psionic. You put 4 HD of creatures to sleep.
About time psionics got this.

Slow Light. Languid movement of light grants the target a 10 percent miss chance.
This 10 percent miss chance stacks with other forms of partial concealment. Well half of it anyway. Still not much miss chances stack with each other.

2nd-Level Psion/Wilder Powers

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Alloyed Hide. You gain damage reduction 5/bludgeoning (or DR 5/+2).
Just like Chyrsalis but much better higher DR. It also has things it doesn’t protect against, but +6-+7 weapons are not that common. Again it prevents a total of 10 HP/ML.

Call Beast of the Id. You summon a specific psionic creature.
You summon a creature to fight for you. There are not a lot of summoning in psionics other than planar champion and astral construct (which isn’t even a real summon), so this is a nice addition.

Construct Toughness. You are immune to critical hits and bludgeoning damage for 10 minutes per level.
Just what it says. Except you are still effected by sneak attacks. Good durations too.

Dream Prison. You imprison a sleeping foe in a Shallows-based dreamscape.
Without Lucid Dreaming feat, you start to lose your sense of identity and use of feats, skills, powers, spell etc. This could be a great way soften your interrogation target. 1 day in the Prime= 5 days in Dal Quor, so its time saving as well.

Empathic Condition Relief. You relieve a target’s condition.
Just like Empathic transfer but for adverse conditions, and you don’t suffer from the condition afterwards. Too bad blindness and feebleminded are not on the list. Still a welcome addition.

Psychic Bodyguard. You make a target’s Will saving throws for it.
So your BSF failed his DC=5 will save….. again. Don’t you wish you could just do it for him? Well with this power you can. I lasts 1 hour/ML so you got him covered all day. Now if only he could do that for your Fort saves.

3rd-Level Psion/Wilder Powers

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Causal Loop. The target is doomed to repeat its last action for 1 round per level.
Sounds like Déjà Vu? That because it basically does that same thing, makes it target repeat the same action over. The key difference is it’s duration. This one lasts 1 round/ML while Déjà Vu only last one round.

Expunge Psionic Circuit. Foe’s loss of psionic tattoo deals it 3d6 points of damage.
Your PCs might think they are clever having a super tattoo of psyreform that lets them retrain on the spot, but you are one step ahead and punish them with this. For any extra 5 PP it hits all tattoos and deals 5d6 of damage for each. Better hope your PCs invested in a Circuit break. Two related powers found in Mind’s Eye; nullify and overload tattoo are much more forgiving. The former prevents them from use for a few minutes, while the latter casues them to discharge all at once. Expunge not only get rid of them (for good) but makes sure you feel the pain.

Mindful Aura. Onlookers are shaken with your apparent power and majesty.
For 1minute/ML I am the life of the party. I get the make social checks with a +4 bonus, and even people that want to hurt me don’t “really” want to since I am just that awesome. In situations where you want to stand out to seduce the prince, this is the way to get his attention. Kind of wasted on combat munchkins.

Steal Item. Distant or tended objects appear in your grasp.
Forget Disarming and sleight of hand, this is the ultimate 5 finger discount. It was 30 feet away, and now its in my hands. Must place in lurk/psyrogue list, this is too good a power for psions and psywars.

[classy one]

4th-Level Psion/Wilder Powers

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Double DimensionX. You make a space bigger on the inside than on the outside.
If you ever read the Stronghold builder handbook you will realize that building a stronghold is expensive. This power lets you double the dimensions without affecting to space on the outside. It will cost you XP but having an unassuming exterior and a spacious interior for the same cost is nothing to scoff at. XP cost is 250 for every 10 feet.

Head Trip. You trap a foe’s mind in a hellish landscape, and the foe’s body falls prone.
Will save or become helpless (and open for a coup de grace). Even if they survive they suffer a -2 on will saves for the rest of the day. Nice utility power as it can either kill it’s target outright or make them easier to fail future will saves.

Phantasmal Killer, Psionic. You create a fearsome visage that kills a foe or deals 3d6 points of damage.
Old and familiar spell now as a power, IMO it fits rather well.

Sensorineural Cascade. You overwhelm sensory systems of targets for 1 round per level.
Will save or it makes your target “blind” (it covers all form of sensation including tremorsense, mind sight, scent etc). Lasts for 1round/ML, each round they have to roll a 4 on a 1d4 or be blind again. Attacking them frees them, but only for that round. You can augment this to make it last 1 day or make it permanent (ouch).

Shatter Storm. The target and all within 20 feet take 5d6 points of damage from crystal shrapnel.
Lob a crystal grenade that deal 5d6 in a 20 foot radius. Reflex for half. The gem you throw has to be worth at least 1 gp. It’s a decent power but did it have to be 4th level power? I personally feel it should be a level 2 power dealing 1d6 with augments to up the damage and DC.

5th-Level Psion/Wilder Powers

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Correspond, Persistent. You engage in ongoing mental conversation with subject.
Still only 25 words but lasts all day. Still useful for legal metagaming.

Dark Union of Dust. You return your foe to dust, or your foe takes 9d6 points of damage.
Fort save or take 9d6 of damage or make save for only 5d6, has decent range, and if it drops you to less than 10% of life take another 5d6 of damage (no save). If it kills you you turn into dust. It has an evil descriptor as well. On it’s own, this is less than average power, but if you pair it up with continuous power it will lead to a kill, albeit in a roundabout manner.

Dream, Psionic. You send a message to a sleeping target.

Eye of Isolation. You create a visual filter that allows you to gaze on evil treatises without moral harm.
This is the first of the “see no evil” powers. This let you shield your eyes from reading evil or vile tomes without fear of alignment change or going insane. Even with it on you don’t really gain anything by reading it with this power on. I mean I don’t need to see a book of Vile Evil to know not to read it.

Impresa. You create a rough duplicate of a creature.
Makes and astral dupe that lasts for 24 hours. Might make a good way to gain admittance to exclusive areas, or even fake your own death. Not much combat uses I’m afraid.

Leech Known Power. You steal powers from another’s mind.
It’s like feat leech but for powers…..and is a 5th level power. A bit redundant if you ask me, still I would put this in my lurk/psyrogue list just because it involves theft.

Nightmare, Psionic. You send a vision that deals 1d10 points of damage and causes fatigue.
Why was this not a power sooner?

Psianimate Dead. You create undead under your mental command.
Just like regular animate dead but you need to maintain a PP pool of at least 1. Not sure I like the fluff in this power, psionics is about the power of the mind, not the soul, but whatever. Mechanically this is an okay power.


Unleash IdbeastX. You gain the idbeast† template for 1 round/level.
You gain the Idbeast template, which is pretty good. More in the monster section but the highlights are:
-+20’ land speed
-AC=+5
-a bunch of good PLAs (vigor, dimension door, suggrestion, ultrablast)
-immunity to poison, heat, cold,
-never caught flat footed
-STR +4, CON+4, INT-2,WIS+4, CHA+2
-pounce (charge+ full attack)
Too bad it costs XP.

6th-Level Psion/Wilder Powers

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Brutalize Wounds. Your target takes more damage than normal from wounds.
On a failed Will save, the victim will always take maximum damage for as long as the power lasts (1 round/ML). Pretty good defuffer and it makes the front liners happy as well. Hell even the DM is happy since it saves time rolling even more dice. The main drawback to this is that the DC is not scalable, and there are more fatal ways to exploit a low will save.

Crownfire. You ignite a brain-consuming fire in a foe’s mind, dealing 9d6 points of damage plus 2 points of permanent Intelligence drain; the mind-fire can spread to other nearby creatures on subsequent rounds.
Fail a will save and you take 9d6 of damage AND 2 INT drain. Even if you make the save you still take 5d6 and 1 INT drain. Next round one of your allies within 30 feet of you must make a will save or take 5d6 damage and 1 INT. All the while your head is still burning for 5d6 and INT drain until you make a will save. Each round everyone who has Crownfire must succeed a will save or keep burning HP and INT. And even after you make a save, if your flaming ally is too close to you, you need make ANOTHER save or catch it again. The only way to make it stop completely is for everyone to make their will saves or until the duration runs out. This is aptly described as an evil power, one I would (slightly) hesitate to use as a DM.

Defer FatalityX. You avoid death through suspended animation.
Like Suspend Life, but you can use it an immediate action. Unlike Suspend Life, you need outside healing to bring you back. An overall improvement, even if it means you can still take damage while out of it.

Hand of Isolation. You create a psionic ward that allows you to touch or wield an evil object without moral harm.
I guess people who don’t have UPD might find this useful, I mean who hasn’t wanted to use a vile greatsword +5 once in a while? If I use this power on my date with Rose Palms will it make be feel less guilty? The answer is yes.
Probability MantleA. You gain partial concealment and can reroll once.
While this power lasts, you gain 20% concealment that foils even true seeing and you can reroll anything once a round!!! This is kind of a must, especially if you are playing with MIC rules that lucky can only be used once a day.

[classy one]

7th-Level Psion/Wilder Powers

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Crawling Cromlech. You create a deadly widening circle bounded by stone slabs.
Creates a crawling circle of destructive force that expands at 10 feet/round, centered around a monolith (a cromlech). If it catches up to you you take 50 points of damage (or 25 if you made the reflex save). The DC is not augmentable but the damage is. I guess it is a good “get away” or crowd control power with a bit more flash.

Dream’s Fatal Embrace. You push a creature into the Shallows, and it can never return.
Literally push someone into the dreamspace/Dal Quor (if they fail their will save), and they plain die. Well, not quite. It’s a bit worse than that. Without Lucid Dreaming, they become just a prop for a dream. They lose their sense of self, class features, skills, feats, everything. If you have Lucid Dreaming then you are stuck in dream realm for eternity fighting Quori, nightmares etc. Did I forget to mention that time mores 5 times slower here (oh and good luck getting a good night’s sleep lol)? Better hope someone has a reality revision or wish spell around before you go insane.

Morality of Isolation. You create a mental filter that allows you to manifest evil powers without moral harm.
Use evil powers without being evil. As crownfire shows, all the cool stuff are for evil people. Just to safely use an evil power I need to spend one standard action and 13 PP. Does this power let me use Mind rape too? Does it work that other way around? Can an evil/vile person use this power to cast/manifest exalted spells? I personally dislike this power and all the “isolation” powers, but it does bring up interesting philosophic questions don’t it?

8th-Level Psion/Wilder Powers

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Detonate PsicrystalXM. You detonate your psicrystal to deal 30d6 points of damage in a 20-foot radius.
Just don’t do it. It’s not worth it. 30d6 with only a radius of 20 feet AND the risk of losing a lot of XP AND not getting another one back for 6 months.

Erase PresenceX. Enemies forget you and your allies are present for 1 round per level.
Kind of a cloud mind and mind blank rolled into one. It’s a bit costly, especially with the XP cost but this is the best in terms of sneaking. It’s too high a level or this would be perfect for lurks/psyrogues.

Mindquake. You deal 15d6 points of damage to creatures in the area.
15d6, no save, and you can concentrate to do it again. One of the few no save area effects in this book (I daresay the only one)

9th-Level Psion/Wilder Power

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Id Cascade. You instantly kill an intelligent creature.
Fort save or die. Concentrate-->Repeat the next round. This power’s motto is: “Someone is going to die damnit" Even if the target makes its saving throw, the manifester can concentrate and spend 5PP the next round to force another Fort save, this time with a -2 penalty. And again and again, since the -2 penalties stack. OR if the 1st target fails (and dies) the manifester can switch to another target in range and start the process again. Only real weakness is that it is close range.

Egoist (Psychometabolism)

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Discipline Powers
6 TransmigrateM. You transmigrate the soul of a dead subject into the body of a living creature.
This is a very interesting power, your dead floating soul decides to just take over and living person’s body. The worst (best??) part is that the original home owner lies dormant but fully aware of what you are doing with his body, and helpless to do anything about it. In one week you remodeled the body to be your original body. It is like mind seed on steroids, but at least mind seed had the decency to erase you rather than torment you with locked-in syndrome. I can’t believe this doesn’t have an evil descriptor on it…

7 Desolate. Your touch deals 13d6 points of damage plus 2d6+4 points of temporary Strength
damage.
The 2d6+4 STR damage is only on a failed Fort save, the 13d6 is damage you will be taking no matter what. Even at level 15 that is still a good chuck of damage for just touch attack. The damage isn’t scalable but the DC is.

Nomad (Psychoportation)

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Discipline Powers
1 Teleport AuxiliaryA. The target doesn’t count toward the limit of teleport.
Now you can’t use exclude Johnny with the old “sorry we are at teleporting capacity” excuse…..Use this on someone and they don’t count against your usual limit for teleports. Useful for big parties.

4 Temporal ConcussionA. Temporally shock creature for 7d6 points of damage and 1d4+2 Intelligence damage.
Ray attack that deals 7d6 of damage by tossing your body in a temporal flux. If you fail the Will save you also suffer INT damage. Another great candidate for continual power.

5 Dimensional ObstructionA. You bar extradimensional movement in an area.
This is basically psionic dimension lock, but better since it is only a level 5 nomad power compared to it’s divine counterpart, which 8th.

Shaper (Metacreativity)

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Discipline Powers
2 Throw EctoformX. You create weak ectoplasmic duplicates of yourself.
Kind of like Mirror Image, but you “throw” an astral duplicate of yourself 1/round rather than 1d4 right from the start. Each round another replica forms adjacent to you. Since it has the duration of 1round/ML you end up with more bang for you buck compared to Mirror Image. Also unlike Mirror Image, these dupes listen to simple commands rather than imitate you. With one of the PrC in the book, the Astral Zealot, these ectoforms can act as minor astral constrcts.

7 Dream of the RealX. You fashion a tangible dreamself from which you can manifest powers.
A boot-leg version of fission… kind of. This dupe of you has a 20% concealment but only 10 HP. You can use it to establish LOS and LOE and channel powers through it like a relay. It only has a one minute duration, high cost (13PP and 75XP) which greatly reduces its usefulness.

8 Stabilize ConstructXG. Astral construct remains to serve you.
Makes an astral construct permanent. Kind of defeats the purpose of them being throwaway cannon fodder doesn’t it? Maybe if you wanted a homunculus like the artificers? Or a cool looking mount like the Agile Loper or an Alabaster Aerial (both CPsi)? Now there is an astral contruct called the Astral Juggernaunt, but it's description expressly forbids you from using this power on it. Too bad since the juggernaunt is exactly what you need when 9th level ACs just stop being effective. As a level 8 power that costs XP, I'd say this is overpriced for what it does. Moving this to level 4-5 sounds reasonable IMO.

Telepath (Telepathy)

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Discipline Powers
1 Suppress CompulsionA. You attempt to free a target temporarily from another’s control using conflicting signals.
Pretty straight forward, no save, no resistance, just make an opposed roll to free someone from any kind of compulsion for one round. Spend 2 more PP and you can make it permanent. A must have when dealing with thrall/slave holders if you want to cause a revolt.

4 Dominate, PsionicA.Control target telepathically; augment for “utter thrall” effect.
Adds the augment “utter thrall” for just 8 extra PP. About time this was done.

9 Apopsic HemorrhageX. You delete 4d4 powers from the target (Difficulty Class modifier –10).
Just like Apopsi but deletes a lot more powers. It’s a Fort save to so main manifester are vulnerable. This is absolutely devastating, thank god it’s a 9th level power. I will be trying this on my PC <snicker>

[classy one]

All powers have been explained before. Psywar didn't get any exclusive powers this time around.
Psychic Warrior Powers

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1st-Level Psychic Warrior Powers
AvauntA. You gain a +2 bonus on your Intimidate check.
BoundA. You gain a +2 bonus on your Jump check.
ChrysalisA. You gain damage reduction 1/—.
Circumstance ShieldA. You gain a +2 insight bonus on Reflex saves.
Clot. You resist bleeding.

2nd-Level Psychic Warrior Powers
Alloyed HideA. You gain damage reduction 5/bludgeoning (or DR 5/+2).
Construct Toughness. You are immune to critical hits and bludgeoning damage for 10 minutes per level.

3rd-Level Psychic Warrior Powers
Steal ItemA. Distant or tended objects appear in your grasp.

5th-Level Psychic Warrior Powers
Unleash IdbeastX. You gain the idbeast† template for 1 round/level.

6th-Level Psychic Warrior Powers
Brutalize Wounds. Your target takes more damage than normal from wounds.
Defer FatalityX. You avoid death through suspended animation.
Hand of Isolation. You create a psionic ward that allows you to touch or wield an evil object without moral harm.

Races and templates:
Dreamborn subtype: Not much here other than a 20% concealment. This concealment does not make you immune to sneak attacks though.

Idbeast: mentioned briefly in in the power unlease Idbeast. Makes you faster, hit harder, increases defense, a variety of PLAs, gives you pounce and great stat boosts. Great for melee fighters.

Kuresh: 0 LA or RHD, +1 luck bonus on all saves, low-light vision, +2 on spot search and sense motive checks, +2 on mind affecting powers, bonus 1PP and a bonus psionic or metapsionic feat at level 1. It’s like a Kalashtar and human mixed together.

Psimech: Makes you a living crystal construct like a warforged. You also get some so-so PLA as well. But the real reason this is a good template is that it makes you an operant creature. Operant creatures basically act as if they had levels of a manifester class up to their HD. Basically, they are gestalted with a monster class and psionic class. They are tall and gaunt in appearance, with long withered hair.

Psionic Lich: Another famous item in this book. This Lich is a bit different from the traditional one, and IMO is better. Rather than a paralyzing touch they have a life draining touch. This touch deals 2 points of CON damage that doesn’t allow a save. Rather than a fear aura, they have Arcane spell bane which fizzles arcane spells if they fail a concentration check (DC= 10+ ½ lich’s HD+ CHA modifier). Has DR 15/peircing rather than 15/bludgeoning and has fast healing 3. The other misc stuff are the same.

Qin: +1 LA race that can can drain life 1/day, have some decent PLAs (conceal thoughts, charm, inertial armor, and daze), 2 bonus PP and telepathy. The telepathy qualifies for mindsight which is solid gold. Stat adjustments: +2 on DEX, CON, CHA and -2 on STR and WIS. They look like stocky humans with golden eyes.

Reflexion: this is a template for constucts that are made by a certain PrC called the Dreamwright. They are copies of other monsters but with a bit extra. These extras include partial concealment, fast healing, PLAs (cloud mind, dream travel, id insinuation) and bonus to DEX and CHA. They keep all Ex and Su special attacks but lose their original SLA and PLA. Lose of natural SLA/PLA isn’t a big deal if the monster you were creating didn’t have any to begin with. Ribose are all "average" versions of the copied creature so you can't make a reflexion with a billion templates.

[classy one]

Prestige classes: Now the fun part. The PrCs here will be ranked by sonofzeal’s criterion for ranking PrC.

Astral Dragoon:

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10 level PrC, full BAB and good fort save, 5/10 ML progression. You get a special astral construct called a bayard. Bayards aren’t anything special normally, they can trample, they are large, have construct traits, and move 40’. On an Astral Dragoon they get a bonus to attacks and can pounce. Not too impressive right? It gets stranger, the Astral Dragoon can’t even call its own bayard until level 3. Before then, he needs a shaper (or ardent with creation mantle) to make it for him. “Have shaper on retainer” is not one of the Astral Dragoon’s class features. For 5 ML this PrC just doesn’t stack up. Overall rank: -1

Astral Zealot:

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10 level PrC, ½ BAB, good fort save, 8/10 ML progression. This PrC makes heavy use of the Throw Ectoform power. They not only “throw” ectoforms, but even wear it, and can manipulate them in greater ways. As you progress you improve in 3 ways: 1)the ectoforms you throw start to function like astral constructs, gaining feats. The capstone let’s you turn an ectoform into your own body should you die. 2) Your astral constructs are better in that you can pick an extra menu choice much like boost construct. And 3) your “ectosuit” provides you with damage reduction. Basically you are the multiple man; how cool that kind of fluff is or isn’t is totally up to you.
Overall rank: 0

Awakened Dreamer:

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10 level PrC, ½ BAB, good Will save, 8/10 ML progression. Requires the Lucid Dreaming feat, and some other skill ranks, but the most disturbing requirement is that one must peel open their eyelids. Naturally, this is creepy and results in -4 social checks and -2 on spot and search checks. The most impressive feature they have is impose will, where they can pump PP into each manifestation to increase the DC. This extra PP is above and beyond the ML limit to a max= class levels. Other benefits include creating permanent walls made of dream, gaining the feat to craft dreamstained items, make a dire dreamself (basically you with a partial concealment, hustle, psionic lion charge). Pretty decent “crafter” PrC, especially if you have plans to make your own headquarters. Combine dream walls with double dimension and you could save several thousand gp on construction costs.
Overall rank: +1

Cerebral rager:

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10 level PrC, ¾ BAB, good Fort, 8/10 ML progression. Needs either volatile mind or rage class features so the entry classes are going to be mix of barbarian and a manifesting class or straight wilder. The signature feature is cerebral rage, which gives +4 on your main manifesting stat for 3+ improved primary modifier rounds. It also gives you temporary PP equal to your class levels. Unlike Rage, you can manifest during a cerebral rage. You also gain a gaze attack of focused hate that deal 7d6, which later increases to 13d6 on a failed Fort save. While thematically sound more ML is better than improved primary ability, making this impractical for wilders and psions alike. A psywar might find the free gaze attacks and PP tempting.
Overall: 0 for psywar, -1 for all others

Chakra savant: I won’t go into this PrC too much because its fluff is very similar to the Meditant found in Mind’s Eye, and the Meditant is just plain better. Both use chakra centers to enhance themselves but Meditant gives much more options. Another issue in that Mind’s Eye is considered more canon than Hyperconsciousness, since it is sanctioned by WotC.

Chronorebel:

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10 level PrC, ¾ BAB, good Reflex save, 8/10 ML progression. Uses his mastery over time to gain an advantage over others. This PrC is, unlike the zerth cenobite (CPsi) really really good. Despite losing 2 ML it gains two powers (slow light and temporal concussion), and +2 on DC that are related to psychoportation. It’s class features are absolutely amazing. Timeless(Su) is a free temporal acceleration that you get at level one useable 1/day (2/day at level 7). Backslip lets you redo the last turn. Note this Backslip is different from the zerth cenobite’s Backslip which only let you reroll something. It’s capstone, Chrosynchrony, let’s you travel up to 6500 years in the past!!!! When using this capstone you have to jump a minimum of 17 years (the “hump” of time). You could literally change your campaign world with this feature. Cordell mentions that dramatic changes to the timeline spawn a parallel world (like Source Code), but the Chronorebel has one week to fix it or have a bridge dropped on him due to “the Edict of Time”. Guess this makes the Chronorebel the Prince of Persia?
Overall: +2

Colorless adept:

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10 level PrC, ½ BAB, good Will save, 8/10 ML progression. This is the Bittorrent PrC of psionics. You are part of a network of other Colorless adepts who use the feat Sequester power to “upload” that power into the shared consciousness. In return, you can “download” powers, other Colorless adepts sequestered. He can download as many powers as he sequesters. The one limit is that the power cannot be a discipline power. At level 1, he can download up level 3 powers. At level 4, he can download up to level 6 powers. Finally at 7, he can download up level 9 powers. They also gain 2 bonus feats and two unique attacks that have really long range and wide effect. Both allow for a Reflex save but are higher than normal. Any class could benefit from one level dip, especially classes with more restricted power lists like psyrogue, psywar and ardent. A wilder might likely will have the most to gain since they have the least amount of total powers to begin with.
Overall: +1

Crystal Proselyte: A manifester that implants crystal into them. Like the Chakra Savant there are better counterparts elsewhere. In this case there are two: the Crystal Master from Mind’s Eye and the Amalgamist from Untapped Potential. If these 3 the Crystal Master is the best in terms of options. Another strike against the Crystal Proselyte is that it’s best ability is easily duplicated with an emitter psionic tattoo. I’m going to forget about this PrC.

Dreamkeeper:

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10 level PrC, ½ BAB, good Will save, 8/10 ML progression. This PrC specializes in astral constructs, but these ACs use the fabric of dreams rather than ectoplasm. This grants them partial concealment, fast healing, more menu choices, and +2 on STR. At every even level they also gain an extra power that is dream related. If all you wanted was beefed up ACs (called dream constructs) then you only need 3 levels in this and move onto the Constructor PrC.
Overall: +1 to level 3, otherwise 0

Dreamwright:

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10 level PrC, ½ BAB, good Will save, 8/10 ML progression. Much like the dreamkeeper you make constructs, but yours are called Reflexions and they are duplicates of existing monsters. As mentioned already, these Reflexions keep all Ex and Su abilities but lose PLA/SLAs. These constructs cost XP (depending on size and HD), and you can’t make a reflexion with more HD than you. Unlike astral constructs, Reflexions are permanent. As you progress they get more bonuses to attack, damage, and saves and become cheaper to make. The capstone let you mentally possess your creation, acting like a metamorphosis of sorts.
Overall: +1

Ghostbreaker:

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5 level PrC, full BAB, good Will and Fort save, 5/5 ML progression. Just the basic chassis is decent, this is the anti-undead PrC of the book. It has some stray bonuses on detecting, hurting and defending against the undead, but it’s real draw is that it can turn undead as if it were a cleric (effective level= ML-2). As most of you know this opens the door to DMM, which could (given magic-psionic transparency) be applied to metapsionic feats. Now that Persistent power is around this is a real possibility.
Overall: +2 with DMM cheese, +1 without.

Innate Pretender:

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10 level PrC, 3/4 BAB, good Will and Reflex save, 6/10 ML progression. One of my favorite PrCs in the book, perfect for psyrogues and lurks in the way the Ebon Saint was supposed to be. Allow me to list why I love this class
1) Full sneak attack progression
2) PLA: Chameleon, far hand, mind blank
3) Reroll anything 3/day
4) 6+ INT skill ranks per level (psyrogue and lurk are INT based)
5) Deal sneak attack damage even if the target is not flanked or flat footed 1/day.
Point 5 is amazing when combined with a Mantra feat found in Untapped Potential that allows you to deal max sneak attack damage.
Overall: +1 would be higher if it didn’t lose so much ML

lucid cenobite:

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10 level PrC, 3/4 BAB, good Will and Reflex save, 7/10 ML progression. What’s a cenobite anyway? Requirements necessitate a monk level(s) and manifesting class. Psywar1/monk 4 might be best since Lucid cenobite levels stack with monk’s. It’s hard to see what this PrC focuses on, it has strike features that auto-confirm crits, dominate or cast apopsi people they hit, but on the other hand have features that extend sight, gain true sight, eradiate invisibility and even x-ray vision. Are they some kind of martial inquisitor? I suppose compared to psionic fist, this is slightly better since having true sight is always a plus.
Overall:+1 just because it’s basically a semi-gestalted monk

Pattern Master:

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10 level PrC, ½ BAB, good Will save, 8/10 ML progression. If it wasn’t for Tattoo Mastery from Mind’s Eye this PrC would be great. It specializes in psionic tattoos and can do more with them and do it more effectively. It will require some homebrew fixes to work though. I feel this PrC has great flavor which is why I even bothered to critique it. It also has no other counterpart in any other source. Here are some recommendations which solely focus on aspects that are obsolete due to Tattoo Mastery:
1) Rather than gaining enduring tattoo as a bonus feat, you get Tattoo mastery at lvl 1
2) At level 2 all tattoos you use automatically have mind tap on them (use as a swift action, no AoO provoked)
3) At level 4, all tattoos that a pattern master uses are considered one level higher.
4) At level 6, all capcacitor tattoos do not take up a slot and are 25% cheaper to make
The rest of the features deal with stealing or erasing other people’s tattoos, and increasing the tattoo cap from 20 to 40 (wow). The cap stone gives the Pattern master one hour of fast healing 1, and treats all damage as non-lethal.
Overall: without fixes n/a, with fixes +0

Plangent:

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10 level PrC, 3/4 BAB, good Will save, 8/10 ML progression. The requirements (3 feats, able to manifest 3rd level powers, and proficiency with martial weapons) are a pain and as far as I can tell, not really worth it for the lose of 2 ML. In fact you might lose more ML just to qualify for this PrC since you may have to dip into a martial class to get the weapon proficiency. You get a mind blade that only advances to +2 and no enchantments. Once of the features lets you manifest power through your mind blade giving it +1 ML and +1 DC, which would have been better if you just had 2 more real MLs. Once really good feature is free focus, which is just as it sounds. For once or twice a day you keep your focus even when you were supposed to expend it.
Overall: -1

Psychic chirurgeon:

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7 level PrC, 3/4 BAB, good Fort save, 5/7 ML progression. This PrC seems like a mistake. It’s just too good, easy to qualify for and only 7 levels long. The chirurgeon is a psionic healer, much like the Sangehirn, but a bit more straightforward. The main ability is metahealer, which uses 5PP to heal 3d6+x, where is equal to ML. They latter gain ways to heal adverse conditions and get psionic damage repair (fix AC and warforged as well). But the capstone is what makes this PrC so good. As their name implies, they get to use psychic chirurgery for free once a week. This is 5 levels sooner than a telepath. This special version of psychic chirurgery is as if he was a level 18 telepath too. The only cost they have to pay would be to implant powers. Psion or society mind (UP) 5/psychic chirurgeon 7/ Sangehirn 8 would be the best healer around.
Overall: +2

Quietus:

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10 level PrC, 3/4 BAB, good Will save, 6/10 ML progression. This is the real psionic assassin rather than a psionic variant of the traditional assassin. At least that’s the concept. She uses Mind Trust with more potency, even if they make their save they still take some damage. At level 4 they can observe their target for 3 rounds and attempt to instantly kill them (Fort save). Sounds really familiar right? They also get the powers crisis of breath and crisis of life, which make the Lethal Mind Trust seem a bit redundant.
Overall:-1

Spirituel: This is clearly the precursor to the Ardent and Divine mind. This PrC gains access to “psionic nodes” which are mantle in all but name. This PrC is just so at odds with the fluff in CPsi that I don’t feel I can really rate it.

Voce Warrior:

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10 level PrC, full BAB, good Fort save, 3/10 ML progression. That’s not a typo. It only has 3 ML in 10 levels. And unfortunately almost everything about this PrC is a letdown. It has a nice concept, reminds me of Dune, where Paul Atrites uses vocalizations and sonic attacks. The requirements has a feat tax of EWP. It’s a feat tax because if you want to use any of the features in this PrC you can’t use a weapon. The voce warrior basically yells at people, and its “Echoic saber” is kind of…. Well nothing special, especially when compared with the 7 ML you lost.
Overall: -2

[classy one]

Well… "If used with an augmented power, the power is augmented only on the first round of manifestation."
Both books are good though. Psionics does not have much books, so you probably want them.

Yeah I realize that but it's still not bad, there is always a chance to roll a 1 right?
Psionics certainly has more written than Incarnum or even ToB. I hardly think psionics is marginalized.

[Psyren]

In future when writing a handbook or review like this, a good technique is to reserve some posts (Just write something like "Reserved #1" and then edit in the info afterwards. This keeps your posts adjacent to one another. Then let us know when you're done and it's okay to post.

In case you're not done, just say so and I'll delete this.

[Tenno Seremel]

Psionics certainly has more written than Incarnum or even ToB. I hardly think psionics is marginalized.

Well, that's the one way to look at it. Other than those 2 books all psionics has is CPsi which you might as well skip (although there are nice things there) and bits and pieces in other books. That might be more than ToB but it's not quite much. At least that is my impression.

Also, (augmented) Expunge Psionic Circuit… IMO moves all attractiveness of Scribe Tattoo down the drain as it is potentially 100d6 damage no save at max… More if you take PrC mentioned above that allows you to have more tattoos. It's not every day occurrence but still somewhat bugs me. I don't think there is a spell that damages you for all potions you have with you destroying them all at the same time.

Oh, and what Psyren said.

EDIT (inserted here from above):

Each round afterwards is treated as a new manifestation, hence re-rolling for saves. Now all those damage+ debuffs suddenly take on a whole new light (like energy stun, energy flash etc).

Well… "If used with an augmented power, the power is augmented only on the first round of manifestation."
Both books are good though. Psionics does not have much books, so you probably want them.

[Psyren]

Well, that's the one way to look at it. Other than those 2 books all psionics has is CPsi which you might as well skip (although there are nice things there) and bits and pieces in other books. That might be more than ToB but it's not quite much. At least that is my impression.

You're discounting Mind's Eye, which has enough material to fill at least an entire other book if not more. Psionics also has material scattered throughout the Completes, the geographic books (It's X Outside) and particularly Eberron.

As all of the new powers are OGL it is my hope that they get included in DSP's Psionics Expanded. (At least one of the Hyperconscious powers made it into Psionics Unleashed.)

Also I would like an analysis of the updated psionic combat rules as I feel that was a great way to distinguish psionics from other forms of casting.

[Tenno Seremel]

You're discounting Mind's Eye, which has enough material to fill at least an entire other book if not more. Psionics also has material scattered throughout the Completes, the geographic books (It's X Outside) and particularly Eberron.

Ah, right, Mind's Eye. Forgot about the fact it is a separate thing :)

[Tokuhara]

I love Chronorebel. Unfortunately, it's a polite middle finger to your DM. "Oh, Remember when the bad guy got away and now is about to kill us? Chrosynchrony... He is now erased from ever existing."

[classy one]

In future when writing a handbook or review like this, a good technique is to reserve some posts (Just write something like "Reserved #1" and then edit in the info afterwards. This keeps your posts adjacent to one another. Then let us know when you're done and it's okay to post.

In case you're not done, just say so and I'll delete this.

There is a 60 second delay and Tenno snuck a post in between. I did not feel the need to reserve posts since I just copy pasted it.
I'm basically done but will revise if I hear some valid feedback.

[Psyren]

There is a 60 second delay and Tenno snuck a post in between. I did not feel the need to reserve posts since I just copy pasted it.

True on the delay but most folks will hold off if you say in the opening post that you'll be reserving. Just a best-practice I thought I'd share

I'm basically done but will revise if I hear some valid feedback.

No comment on the psionic combat rules (Chapter 3)? I've read through them myself but I always love to see alternate viewpoints on this book.

Aside from the feats and PrCs, those are a really strong reason to get this book as it's the only 3.5 update for these rules that currently exist, IIRC.

[classy one]

Also I would like an analysis of the updated psionic combat rules as I feel that was a great way to distinguish psionics from other forms of casting.

I can do a brief summary on psionic mindscape combat. It's fairly simple. I did touch upon it in the feats section.

[classy one]

due to popular demand!!!

Mindscape combat
Cordell reintroduces the concept of psionic combat that was removed from the XPH. I never used the psionic handbook and it has been a LONG time since I played 2e so I can't really compare them. On it's own, this new system is pretty streamlined requiring only one extra roll each round with noticeable effects for the winner.
The basics are similar to duel of wills that is present in ToB but with more varied effects and complex. Rather than use a skill check, it uses a base bonus that progress with the character much like BAB and saves. The book covers the progression of the classes and PrCs found in XPH (but not CPsi).

When two psionic character meet their mental avatars meet in a mental plane called a mindscape. This is not a voluntary process (unlike duel of wills). If two psionic characters are within 60' of eachother and they are aware of eachother, then a mindscape will form between them.
Once formed, the people (and their avatars) in the mindscape can opt to drop out of it as long as both agree. However, if one wishes to engage in a psionic fight then the other unwilling party is forced to particiate. There are 8 different mindscapes, each of which give bonuses of penalties and can be changed by the person with a high base bonus (at least +5) and who has won init.

Once a mindscape is formed, the person who lost init will select an attack/defense mode and then the winner of init selects a mode. Both sides roll an opposed check against eachother and the winner gains benefits in the real world. This is calculated by using the the base bonus, mindscape bonus mode bonus and a d20 result.
The bonuses you gain in the physical world are based on what mode you picked. Some give you a bonus on saves, damage, attack, DR and DC of powers. These bonuses last for one round. And another round of psionic combat starts once the participants' physical round start.

Now the actual review.
The good: it's very flavorful and only amounts to one extra roll each round even if more than 2 people are in a mindscape. It is also quite versatile in that while certain modes have higher chance of succeeding in certain mindscapes, they won't give you the bonus you want which forces you to decide if it is worth the risk of losing a round of psi combat. Their are feats that even allow you to engage in psi combat with non psionic characters that provides no benefits to your opponent even if he wins, effectively making it risk free (against non psi users).

The bad:
The fact that a mindscape is formed as long as conditions are met (two psionic creatures within 60 feet, aware of eachother and has LoS) make it an automatic detect psionics at will (correct me if I am wrong here). This might not be a problem if psionics is rare, but what if you are in a place like Sarlona where even the rats are psionic? You have to deal with everything that you see? What if I don't want people to know I am psionic? A power like mind blank or brain lock would stop both but have limited duration and are high level powers. Another way to avoid mindscape formation is a feat that delays the formation of you mental avatar. Of course you just had to use a feat to do give you a chance of avoiding detection.

Conclusion: an interesting way to integrate psi combat back into the game and easy to use. It's biggest weakness is the fact that it is not voluntary. A big improvement would be to just make it more like duel of wills. This isn't as easy as it sounds since you don't know if a character is psionic or not unless they use a power or PLA. As it stands I don't think I will use it for PbP games but would use it on the table if the player want it.

[Rubik]

Sequester Power + Erudite = "my pp are bigger than yours"

Psychic Bastion + crafted dreamstained items (with several item abilities on single items via MIC crafting rules) + save-replacing maneuvers = massive item inventory with no real down-sides.

Also, ability burn is a form of ability damage, which is blocked by Psychic Bastion.

[classy one]

Psychic Bastion + crafted dreamstained items (with several item abilities on single items via MIC crafting rules) + save-replacing maneuvers = massive item inventory with no real down-sides.

How did I not see this combo? I'll add it in. In fact you don't need an item with a bunch of enhancements. You can fail up to 3 Fort saves before suffering any Con damage. Given that the saves are quite low, you could have a NPC/PC with nothing but dreamstained items.

Also, ability burn is a form of ability damage, which is blocked by Psychic Bastion.

Here's all the relevant info, but I think you are correct.

Psychic Bastion [Psionic]
You fortify yourself against ability depletion.
Benefit: While you maintain your psionic focus, you gain
ability depletion resistance 3 against any attack that depletes
an ability score, including poison, ability drain, ability
damage, or enhancement penalties to ability scores. For
instance, if some power, spell, effect, or poison deals you
4 points of temporary ability damage, you actually take just
1 point of temporary ability damage. The ability depletion
resistance works on a per-attack basis.

Ability Burn

This is a special form of ability damage that cannot be magically or psionically healed. It is caused by the use of certain psionic feats and powers. It returns only through natural healing.

It is an effect that damages abilities, and hence preventable.

Body Fuel [Psionic]

You can expand your power point total at the expense of your health.
Benefit

You can recover 2 power points by taking 1 point of ability burn damage to each of your three ability scores: Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution.

You can recover additional power points for a proportional cost to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. These recovered points are added to your power point reserve as if you had gained them by resting overnight.

So now that we established that you can recharge your PP with the Psychic Bastion+ Body Fuel combo the question is how fast? This is important since it is the difference between "just" a recharge and infinite PP.
As per Psychic Bastion, the damage prevented is on a "per attack basis", so each time I use body fuel is counted as an attack? Body Fuel also doesn't specify what action it uses. Is it a free action? In that case I will always have max PP by just using body fuel once, have it prevented and do it over and over.
If it costs any action, then I could gain 6PP by burning 3 to my Str, Dex and Con each turn. The other question is how much burn counts as one "attack"? Can you even lump up multiples burns for more PP?
I will certain add this rather dirty trick to my original analysis once I get some more solid answers.

[Tenno Seremel]

Each time you use Body Fuel it is 1 attack. As for action itself… Body fuel is psionic feat and those are supernatural abilities = standard action, I think.

[Lord Vukodlak]

The power points are gained through burning ability cores. Its like burning coal for fuel. If something stops it from burning you don't gain the effects.

[Psyren]

Ghostbreaker should have a higher rating imo. Even with DMM not working with it (it shouldn't anyway, transparency doesn't extend to feats), it's still the only full BAB-full Manifesting class in the game aside from Psychokinetic Champion. And even without DMM there are plenty of other great divine feats out there.

[Rubik]

Oh, and check Visceral Surge again. Nowhere in the actual Benefits section does it say it only works on critical hits (the flavor text mentions 'critical damage,' but not 'critical hits'), and it auto-cowers for 1 round, ALWAYS. Unless they're immune to, or downgrade, fear effects.

Auto-screw your opponents on a successful attack roll? WHOO!

AND, when you're using Psychic Bastion above, remember that you can Take 15 on a Concentration check by expending your psionic focus, meaning those save-replacing maneuvers never ever fail.

[edit] Also, you can't take Con damage if you're, say, a necropolitan with the Human Heritage feat. You can still sleep (and thus, dream) since you're Humanoid (Human), but you get all the undead traits, which includes immunity to physical stat damage. :p

[classy one]

The power points are gained through burning ability cores. Its like burning coal for fuel. If something stops it from burning you don't gain the effects.

No where does it say that this is the case, BUT I think what you say makes perfect sense and that is how I would say it is interpreted as per RAI.

Ghostbreaker should have a higher rating imo. Even with DMM not working with it (it shouldn't anyway, transparency doesn't extend to feats), it's still the only full BAB-full Manifesting class in the game aside from Psychokinetic Champion. And even without DMM there are plenty of other great divine feats out there.

I am not so sure it should be +1 without DMM. You end up with 1.25 (compared to 3/4 BAB classes) more BAB in 5 levels and trade up class features for the niche ability to fight undead more effectively. Which classes would usually enter this? Most likely psywar, wilders, and ardents. All 3/4 BAB. Psywar would lose 1-2 bonus feats. A wilder would lose wild surge, a EK feat (using educated wilder ACF), and possibly a surging euphoria. Ardent will lose 1-2 mantles. Is that worth an extra 1.25 BAB? I personally don't think so, a bonus feat can make that up, a surging euphoria certainly will, an ardent with the right mantles can deal with undead just as effectively.
In fact, with CPsi dealing with undead isn't even that hard. celestial conduit, stygian erasure, stygian bane etc. Do you really need a whole PrC to do what a few powers can do just as well?

Oh, and check Visceral Surge again. Nowhere in the actual Benefits section does it say it only works on critical hits (the flavor text mentions 'critical damage,' but not 'critical hits'), and it auto-cowers for 1 round, ALWAYS. Unless they're immune to, or downgrade, fear effects.

Auto-screw your opponents on a successful attack roll? WHOO!

Gah you're right. I assumed it needed a confirmed crit since Primordial surge needs one.

AND, when you're using Psychic Bastion above, remember that you can Take 15 on a Concentration check by expending your psionic focus, meaning those save-replacing maneuvers never ever fail.

I just assumed as a psionic PC your concentration would be max'ed, but you are correct, whether this is worth dipping (hence losing a ML) is debatable.


I keep forgetting to mention that races that don't dream (i.e. kalashtar, elves) are completely immune to the subsequent Con damage. These dreamstained items just keep getting better and better. Kalashtar psionic articifer here I come.

[Lord Vukodlak]

No where does it say that this is the case, BUT I think what you say makes perfect sense and that is how I would say it is interpreted as per RAI.

RAI? Looks fairly RAW to me.
"You can recover 2 power points by taking 1 point of ability burn damage to each of your three ability scores: Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution."

Your recover PP by taking X.... if its resisted or otherwise negated your not taking it. I think the RAW is quite clear the trick doesn't work.

[classy one]

So the final edit for psychic bastion should be: it will prevent ability burn but you won't see any benefits from it.

Another thing I noticed. Astral Juggernaunt is a astral construct but not.... kind of ambigious, but you can't apply powers and feats that specify astral constructs like durable construct, or stablize construct on it. So the dream of having a permanent Astral Juggernaunt is just a pipe dream

[Rubik]

So the final edit for psychic bastion should be: it will prevent ability burn but you won't see any benefits from it.

Another thing I noticed. Astral Juggernaunt is a astral construct but not.... kind of ambigious, but you can't apply powers and feats that specify astral constructs like durable construct, or stablize construct on it. So the dream of having a permanent Astral Juggernaunt is just a pipe dream

Any spell to power magic-mantled erudite can grab an arcane version of greater consumptive field and get NI caster level for NI rounds of astral juggernaut goodness.

[sreservoir]

I am not so sure it should be +1 without DMM. You end up with 1.25 (compared to 3/4 BAB classes) more BAB in 5 levels and trade up class features for the niche ability to fight undead more effectively. Which classes would usually enter this? Most likely psywar, wilders, and ardents. All 3/4 BAB. Psywar would lose 1-2 bonus feats. A wilder would lose wild surge, a EK feat (using educated wilder ACF), and possibly a surging euphoria. Ardent will lose 1-2 mantles. Is that worth an extra 1.25 BAB? I personally don't think so, a bonus feat can make that up, a surging euphoria certainly will, an ardent with the right mantles can deal with undead just as effectively.

since it's the single point of BAB which pushes you from +15/+10/+5 to +16/+11/+6/+1, it most certainly is worth it.

that said, it's not just the psywars, wilders, and ardents who will go for it. psions trivially enter by 6 due to its incredibly loose requirements, and lose exactly one bonus feat and nothing else -- psion 15/ghostbreaker 5 is almost strictly superior to psion 20 in every meaningful way. same applies for erudites. ardents really have nothing to lose, because after a point, more mantles are useless. psywars, too, don't really care about losing a feat or two when they already have some fifteen or so.

[Psyren]

DMM isn't the only Divine feat out there either. Divine Armor, Fortune, Vigor, even Shield and Might can all be useful to psionicists.

And being able to ignore negative levels, even a small amount, is beneficial to any character. And all that is on top of the full BAB.

[classy one]

Alright, I can change it to a flat +1 regardless of DMM. I personally think psionic players pay a bit too much attention on BAB but I did admit that the basic chasis of the PrC was solid.