RolePlay onLine RPoL Logo

, welcome to Game Proposals, Input, and Advice

08:43, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics.

Posted by FenrisLoki
FenrisLoki
member, 1 post
What even is this?
Way too short to write...
Thu 27 Sep 2018
at 21:35
  • msg #1

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

Almost 20 years ago (oh god I'm old) I picked up D&D 3rd Ed.'s Psionics Handbook, and I was hooked. The melding of sci-fi themes with high fantasy, hinting at eldritch beings, and a non-Vancian sort of casting system, that nonetheless actually integrated pretty well with the core ruleset, all together captured my imagination and never let go. What a pity that people even back then had bad memories of AD&D's horrible implementation of psionics and thought "ain't gonna be no psychics in my campaign, no siree!"

Even now there seems to be a lot of pushback against psionics and few or no active advocates for psionics, despite the fact that psionics are released for free under the freaking d20SRD. And 3.5-style Psionics got re-released for Pathfinder and can be found on the d20PFSRD, albeit third party since Paizo went a different route with occult psychics.

Well, I'm wondering if the seemingly omnipresent naysayers are just a vocal minority. Or if they're a vocal majority, whether there's still some people who are interested in adventurers who bend the world to their will, who manifest the supernatural through their own power, who use the latent power of their minds against horrific threats to the realm and reality itself.

Specifically, I'm wondering if there's interest in a 3.5 game where not only is Psionics explicitly allowed, but Spellcasting is actually forbidden. I'm not quite willing to get rid of magic entirely, and have in mind a sort of post-apocalyptic setting following the rending of the weave and the collapse of a magitek civilization or something like that.

If you're just gonna say "nope," don't bother, I'm already assuming a lot of nopes. Or at least give a throughout reason why you're noping so I can know why you personally don't like psionics and what can be done to fix it.
Studynot
member, 118 posts
Thu 27 Sep 2018
at 21:55
  • msg #2

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

I love Psionics in all its flavors.

3.x was just a variant spellcasting system rather than a wholly different chassis like 2e and before, but I still loved it.

I'd be down for that game.

If you wanted a drag and drop setting, you could go super early Forgotten Realms in the expansion and rule of the Jhaamdath (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Jhaamdath) which was a Psionic Human "empire" in like -6000 DR (current FR is like 1570 DR or something).

magic wasn't against the law, but it wasn't the POWER in Jhaamdath.

OR Dark Sun.

That is straight up post-apocalyptic "we broke the world" and for the most part standard magic is illegal and Psionics are prevalent to the point that most people have at least a power. In 3.5 terms almost everyone would have the Hidden Talent Feat. 2 pp + One 1st level Power.
Hendell
member, 134 posts
Thu 27 Sep 2018
at 22:14
  • msg #3

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

If you are looking for a good way to do Psionics without making people feel like something has gone horribly wrong with the game the Dark Sun setting is an exelent way to do that.

If your goal is to have the style and themes of Psionics as the focus of a story you may want to try using 5e as it has a lot less trouble integrating Psionics into the normal system mechanics.
Ramidel
member, 1368 posts
Err on the side
of awesome.
Fri 28 Sep 2018
at 01:29
  • msg #4

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

Depending on your setting design, I might be interested in 3.5 psionics. (Call me a heretic, but Dark Sun doesn't really grab me.)
OakMaster
member, 106 posts
"Choose you this day
whom ye will serve..."
Fri 28 Sep 2018
at 01:41
  • msg #5

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

I don't suppose you would consider an Alternate Earth setting, such a fantasy medieval Europe where the Inquisition has exterminated the magic users, but hasn't detected psi users... yet...?  :)
LonePaladin
member, 760 posts
Creator of HeroForge
Fri 28 Sep 2018
at 03:18
  • msg #6

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

You can also go with Eberron; when it turned up midway through 3.5's run, they made the assumption that psionics exist and are part of the way things are there. One of the 'new' races for the setting -- the kalashtar -- has innate psionic ability regardless of class.

The primary region detailed, Khorvaire, has its share of psions but they're a minority. But the continent of Sarlona, where humans originated, is primarily psionic. They also happen to be dominated by the quori, a race that crossed over from the realm of dreams, but that's neither here nor there.

So you could run an Eberron game based entirely in Sarlona. The PCs could be based out of the monastery in Adar, where the Kalashtar came from, hiding out and engaging in guerilla warfare against the Sarlonans who want to recapture them. Or they could be Sarlonans looking for those pesky dissidents.

And with it being primarily psionic, you'd have an excuse to bring out the gemstone dragons. Not to mention things from Khyber, that world's version of the Underdark -- stuff like mind flayers and aboleths and psionic beholders.
Isida KepTukari
member, 235 posts
Elegant! Arrogant! Smart!
Fri 28 Sep 2018
at 04:20
  • msg #7

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

I like psionics very much - and I'd really like to see them in a psionics-only campaign.  I'd also second LonePaladin's suggestion of Eberron.  Sarlona is tailor-made for a psionics adventure!
Ramidel
member, 1369 posts
Err on the side
of awesome.
Fri 28 Sep 2018
at 06:49
  • msg #8

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

The OP mentioned a homebrew setting of some kind in his pitch. I'd like to see that setting.
FenrisLoki
member, 2 posts
What even is this?
Way too short to write...
Fri 28 Sep 2018
at 11:30
  • msg #9

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

In reply to Ramidel (msg # 8):

I like Dark Sun, particularly the desert barbarian/slave schtick and the prevalence of psionics. So it's definitely an influence. Unfortunately, it's not very well supported in 3rd ed.

But I'm also inspired by the likes of Fallout, Mad Max, Metro 2033, and other post-apocalyptic settings, and most of the Athasian Brown Age or the Age of Heroes wouldn't really have those sprawling urban ruins anymore (in the normal timeline, the Age of Green was around 2000 years ago!) and the Sorcerer Kings seem too strong and too focused on erasing the past for explorers to really dig into what went wrong with society.

Likewise, I'm also influenced by Borderlands and want to encourage tinkers, so having those ruins and plenty of warped and defective but still almost functional magical technology for clever use by scrappers, even if that not-quite-commonplace stuff is both dangerous and irreplaceable.

And fighting off bandits and other beasties across the wasteland after the violent end of a golden age brings to mind Western motifs, such as Deadlands. Guns could be up there with fiddly half-broken wands of magic missile as the sort of thing savvy explorers might figure out. I think curses could be used much more creatively and dovetail well with other survival and resource-management mechanics.

Which is why I like the idea of a setting based after the end of a terrible magitek world war that only ended when the devastation drew the baleful eye of eldritch horrors which manifested as fantasy nukes or similiar. Of course I don't want to get too far away from D&D, and like hell am I going to go into game development, so I'm looking at hacking a more standard adventure path to suit my crazy ideas.

All in all, seems there's some decent interest in this sort of thing.
Lord Caladin
member, 313 posts
It all about the journey
Fri 28 Sep 2018
at 15:19
  • msg #10

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

Interesting posts and comments.

I think in general some GMs find the system to be another very complex detailed form of magic.

In my early years, I almost always wanted to add a form of Psioncs to my character Back in the days of AD&D (1st ed.). I saw this as mental power - not magic and back in that day it was played - psionics could effect psionics in general. So it just added interesting effects like telepathic powers.

When the psioncs become more than the basics, with the release of Planscape and more and more material it almost became learning a game within a game. This was my earlier years in DMing so the amount of time to read memorize and make playable with psionic was tough. I found it to be so hard and time consuming I strictly only allowed wizards and high fantasy games use it. So for me that was a rare thing since I DM low to mid-fantasy games in general.

Now with modern games some 30 years later, YES I am much older then you lol. I did play the RED BOX.

Many use it in all kinds of different ways, some see in today's game - Psionics as paranormal phenomena in relation to magic as unexplained events or power. I think it's even more, ... but since my experience is outdated I can only comment and say that 3.5 Psionic can be part of any setting as long as the DM understands how it will relate to HIS game and how he will need to DM in order for the abilities, powers and effects to stay interactive, proactive and meet the game setting and/or adventure.

I did have a game were we took the Psionic Warrior to 10th lvl. The player was very skilled and was not interested in power gaming so the effects and RPing was fantastic and great to have. At the end of that game he was a master with two blades and the psionic was part of his abilities as a warrior. It worked really well for that game.

Funny I think the two setting noted Dark Sun & Eberron are great for psionics. So much so I Home brewed those setting in my game. So my desert adventures have a small feel of dark sun. and my underground world has the Eberron subterranean setting.

At the end, and strictly the way I think of gaming - Psionics has a special part to play in any and every game setting. It's not the game but how the DM handles the Psionics in the setting that can make or break the game. And if your knowledge in psionics is high enough its more then "do-able".

Good luck love to see what you come up with !
Studynot
member, 119 posts
Fri 28 Sep 2018
at 17:50
  • msg #11

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

In reply to FenrisLoki (msg # 9):

if that is the feel you're going for, then future Eberron could be the place to play in. I.e. a future scape where Psionics from Sarlona are "re-discovering the lost continent of Khorvaire".

Maybe the Draconic prophecy lead to a giant Sarlona/Khorvaire that engulfed the world, and as the Daelkyr thought to reclaim their "rightful place" eldritch horrors from the far-realm were released because of the draconic prophecy as well some how. Maybe they consumed the Daelkyr as a powerful source of food and now they slumber in the depths. maybe they retreated, but left the mad aberrations of the Daelkyr like illithids, etc. to "rule" and humanity has been fighting a long war against them since. The arrival of the far realms and GOO's shattered traditional magic, but awakened a psionic thread in everyone alive, even those not touched by the Inspired or Kalashtar.

Just thinking how you could use the continent of Khorvaire with the ruins and all, old magictek society, but use Psionics as a baseline.
LonePaladin
member, 761 posts
Creator of HeroForge
Fri 28 Sep 2018
at 18:27
  • msg #12

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

That would rock. Make the effect that created the Mournlands spread -- at least over Breland, if not the whole continent. Turn it into a magic-blasted wasteland hostile to life, with wandering living spells and old magitech turned unstable. Have someone play a psiforged (imagine a warforged, but with crystals in its body), I think they even made a psionic artificer class.

Though a vanilla artificer could be handy as the one guy on the team who understands that crazy magic stuff.

Keep the more 'savage' cultures, let them survive the apocalypse. So Droaam and Droaam and the Shadow Marches and Q'barra are mostly intact. Let the Talenta Plains survive and you get halflings riding dinosaurs; same goes for Valenar, if you want your elves to act like Klingons. And don't forget the Demon Wastes, maybe they finally cross over the mountains.

Heh. Instead of "Dark Sun", we could call it "Dark Siberys".
FenrisLoki
member, 3 posts
What even is this?
Way too short to write...
Fri 28 Sep 2018
at 19:25
  • msg #13

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

In reply to LonePaladin (msg # 12):

I actually really like the idea of a post-apocalyptic psionics-heavy Eberron! I hadn't considered it, but it could definitely fit quite a few tropes I wanted, and I liked the moral ambiguity that already permeated Eberron. It'll take a tiny bit of kludging, but I think name recognition alone would help. Thanks!
Hendell
member, 135 posts
Fri 28 Sep 2018
at 19:51
  • msg #14

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

It is very hard to go wrong with Everton.  It may be more effort than it is worth but Keith Baker has a few posts on his personal blog about ways magic can evolve or advance like technology that could offer inspiration if they can still be found.
kark2
member, 257 posts
Sat 29 Sep 2018
at 05:43
  • msg #15

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

Hi, I thought I was the only one psionic evangelist. I am glad to find that I don't walk this path alone!

I would like to stress here that normal Eberron is already a Post-Apocalyptic scenario for some: The Talaire. The Six Hidden Psionic Houses are refugees from Old Sarlona where they ruled before they were invaded by the quori and forced to flee.

Khorvaire is not psionic heavy. Even with Psionic-Magic transparency, psionic items are difficult to obtain. There are lots of scrolls but few power stones. We could try to find the Making Stone, try to find the secret demiplane where the ruins of Ancient Talaron were sent to save their secrets from the quori. The lost Incendar branch, discovering ancient secrets from the quori and how to use them against them, and the pursuit for a copy of the Talairic Codex are good examples for missions.
Me and some friends tried to find a game that explicitly pit the Hidden Psionic Houses against the Dragonmarked ones. Raise in power in Khorvaire to prepare an invasion against Sarlona.


If a futuristic Khorvaire is more of the taste for our GM, what about if we made the apocalypsis? The Talaire gained control in Khorvaire and invaded Sarlona, resulting in a war that destroyed both continents. Without a clear winner, the Talaire can stand up on their own and finally take back what is rightfully theirs.
Studynot
member, 120 posts
Thu 4 Oct 2018
at 03:51
  • msg #16

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

you're not alone kark2!

The Talaire as former rulers of Sarlona before the Inspired took over is an interesting idea for sure.

I love the plot line in Eberron of the Quori (Inspired vs. Kalashtar) but it's always felt like a side plot to the "cosmic" threats of the Daelkyr, and the Dragons with their Draconic Prophecy.

I suppose those things could be set aside for a future Eberron game that focused on psionics though.

What are you thinking FenrisLoki?
FenrisLoki
member, 5 posts
What even is this?
Way too short to write...
Fri 5 Oct 2018
at 10:42
  • msg #17

Interest Poll: D&D 3.0/3.5 Psionics

In reply to Studynot (msg # 16):

So I decided to create a game, and we'll see how it goes!

Link to Requesting Players, if interested:
The Corpse of Eberron
Sign In